Cheating Death Two
by BlueberryToasterTart
Summary: Sequel to my "Cheating Death". I've got a better title but it's a bit of a spoiler so it'll come later with an update. Basically, Astrid died and Hiccup brought her back to life and she's got some spiritual medium powers. But when the spirit world is thrown into absolute chaos and an old enemy returns, it seems like Hiccup and Astrid have too much to handle.
1. Chapter 1

Alright! It's been a little while since I talked about this sequel and I'm finally working on it! It's not as organized as the first one was when I started writing and posting chapters so there might be more time in between updates.

And, as a side note, I have a working title but I didn't want to post it by the title because it gives something away that I don't want spoiled. When a certain something happens I'll update the title. Until then it's going to be plain old (serious man voice) "Cheating Death Two".

Right, onward!

Chapter 1: One Year Later

A year has passed since Hiccup and Astrid returned from the long journey to find the man that eluded Death. Upon their arrival home the Vikings of Berk were eager to hear about the strange tale, although still a bit weary. Hiccup retold the tale of how he and Astrid flew for days to find the island shaped like an axe where pirates lay low and scum goes to die. Vikings were intrigued at how they tricked the dead man and were swallowed by the darkness along with him. "How did you escape?" was a popular question that was followed by a hungry silence for an exciting and heroic answer.

"I'm not really sure." Hiccup would shrug. It was true. He wasn't sure how they managed to get out of the underworld at all. Death could have kept them there but instead he let them go as was their deal. They brought him the dead man who went by the name Richard and Death gave Astrid the years she would have lived had she not died.

Although her chain to Death was cleanly severed and he no longer had a claim on her soul, Astrid still had a connection to the spirit world. Often Hiccup would catch her speaking to nothing and when she saw him staring she would smile, a little embarrassed, and shrug it off.

It did irk him a little that she could speak to spirits but that unease had faded with time. Astrid had stopped welcoming the dead into conversations in the village and instead chose the cave where Hiccup had brought her soul back into the mortal world. It was quiet and calm and well away from the village. She spent many hours a day there communing to the lost spirits and helping them find their way into the other side.

The Vikings of Berk had learned to live with Astrid and her role as a spiritual medium. Most were weary of her but swallowed their intimidation and accepted her back into their ranks as a worthy Viking. Her aunt Ingrid had made the most progress of the Vikings. She had taken this chance to get to know her niece better since she was the only family she had.

Hiccup was woken by the thunderous crack of a hammer on hot metal. The sudden sound shook him off his cot and he crashed into the floor. Stunned for the moment he groaned and pushed himself back to his feet. He popped his back with a stretch and groaned with the instant pressure release.

"You finally awake in there?" Gobber half-hummed from the forge.

"Yeah." Hiccup yawned. He'd fallen asleep in the smithy. Again. That's three times that week that he'd crashed on his workbench and somehow crawled onto the cot.

"I hope you're making progress on that contraption of yours. I'd hate to think all those late nights were for nothing." Gobber said.

"Oh, it's coming along." Hiccup said. He looked at his workbench. Prototypes and revamped designs of his 'flight suit' scattered the surface. Astrid had laughed at him when he said he was going to make it but the more he worked on it the better of an idea it seemed. A few more tries and he'll be close to a test run. But he'd wait until after the test to tell Astrid.

"Oh, Hiccup, I almost forgot." Gobber said. His rhythmic hammer strikes stopped.

"Hmm?" Hiccup asked as he walked out of his closet workspace. Outside he could see the bright morning. It looked like a beautiful day. If only his suit was done now. This would be a perfect day to try it out.

"Trader Johan arrived this morning. He said he had something for you." Gobber said with a tell-tale nod. "A letter, I assume?"

"Maybe." Hiccup said. A letter from Esol and Chuck would give him something else to think about which would make Astrid and his dad happy for a while. "Thanks, Gobber!"

"Don't mention it!" Gobber called as Hiccup started toward the docks at a run.

He wasn't the best of runners when he had two feet and with just one he felt like he was flailing himself. But he wanted that letter and he didn't stop until he could see Johan's ship at the docks. Vikings were sorting through his treasures and talking excited to each other and asking Johan all sorts of odd questions.

"Oh, that item was exceptionally difficult to procure." Johan was saying to an excited Fishlegs. In his hands was a book. Thor only knew what was inside it.

"Oh, how much? How much!" Fishlegs said clutching the book in his meaty hands. It was clear that the price didn't matter. He wanted that book and would sell his mother if he had to.

"For you, dear boy?" Johan said, "That dagger would do just fine."

"This?" Fishlegs said as he pulled the new and still shiny dagger from his belt. "Done!"

Fishlegs thrust the dagger to Johan who jumped back a little but took it delicately from his hand. Johan eyed the dagger eagerly while Fishlegs ran from the ship with a squeal.

"What about that?" Snotlout was saying from the dock. He was as close to the ship as he could be without actually being on the ship.

"No!" Johan said with two hands up toward him. "Nothing for you. You'll just break it."

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout whined from the dock.

"Yeah, you just break everything you touch." Tuffnut said tauntingly from the ship.

"Yeah, unlike me and Tuffnut. We're as gentle as a five armed Terrible Terror." Ruffnut said as she smacked her brother over the head with a wooden club. He collided with an organized stack of weapons and they all came crashing down. Somehow, by the power of Oden, Tuffnut was left unharmed.

Johan groaned. "Out! All of you! Out you hooligans!"

"I sense some irony in there somewhere." Tuffnut said as he and his sister were shooed from the ship.

"It'll take me a full day to reorganize all this." Johan grumbled as they went away snickering about who knows what.

"Johan?" Hiccup asked as he approached the ship. "Gobber said you had something for me?"

"Ah, Master Hiccup, why yes, I've got something especially for you." Johan said with a grin. He went down below and rustled around in what sounded like a chest full of paper and came back with a folded and neatly addressed letter. "From a Miss Esol."

"Thank you, Johan." Hiccup said and he took the letter.

"And I've been ordered to not leave without a reply." Johan said.

"I'll be back before nightfall." Hiccup said with a nod.

Johan returned his nod and Hiccup was headed back from the docks. He'd wait to open the letter with Astrid. They always opened the letters together and wrote them together as well. He had made it to the center of the village when the booming voice of his father stopped him.

"Hiccup! There you are, son." Stoick the Vast said with arms outstretched and a great grin on his face.

"Ah, hi dad. Sorry, I fell asleep in the forge last night." Hiccup explained.

"No worries, son. Gobber's been telling me that you've got something big you're working on." Stoick said with a wink.

"Uh, yeah." Hiccup said. He wasn't sure what that wink meant.

Stoick laughed. "I can't wait to hear about it. Does it have something to do with a certain Viking lass?"

"What?" Hiccup asked. "Not really. I mean, I guess in a way, but no, not really."

Stoick looked confused. "It doesn't?"

"No." Hiccup said. "Dad, what are you talking about?"

"You're not trying to come up with some extravagant way to propose?" Stoick asked.

"What?" Hiccup said. How did his father get a proposal out of late nights at the forge? "No, it's a flight suit."

"Oh," Stoick said. He seemed a little deflated. But soon he piped right back up. "But in all seriousness, son, you're getting to be at that age where a young man finds a young woman, and-"

"Whoa, Dad," Hiccup said taking a few steps away from his father. "Is this really a talk you want to have in the middle of the village?"

"Oh, it's not like that, Hiccup." Stoick said, a little red in the face but humored. "Although, I admit that I would like to be able to play with my grandchildren while I'm still able."

"Right." Hiccup choked out.

"So, I take this to mean that you haven't asked her yet." Stoick said. "You need to get on that Hiccup. It's easier when you're younger. Your mother was twenty when she had you and if I'm not mistaken Astrid is soon to be twenty,"

"Right, Dad, well, I'm going to talk to Astrid right now and I'll think of a way to slip marriage into the conversation on the way up there." Hiccup said, ducking out of his father's sight. Hopefully, he'd bought himself some time.

On his way to the dragon stables he let out a groan. His father had been nagging him more and more about marriage. Occasionally he'd thrown in something about being chief. That was years and years away and he didn't want to think about it right now. When he thought of marriage he got weak in the knees. He wasn't ready. What would he do with kids? How do you take care of them if they can't walk or feed themselves? There was just so much about being a parent that he didn't know.

No one knew that Hiccup and Astrid were already engaged. It had been a secret and Hiccup wasn't sure how to dispel the secrecy gracefully. They could fake a public proposal but that sounded stupid. Hiccup sighed. He'd talk to Astrid later. Maybe she had some kind of advice.

Toothless was in the stables with the other dragons eating on the seemingly endless supply of fish and moldy bread. At the sight of Hiccup he burst with energy and bounded to his rider.

"Hey there, bud." Hiccup said. "You want to go see Astrid?"

Toothless almost seemed to nod.

"Alright." Hiccup said as he climbed aboard the saddle. He tucked the letter into his shirt and made sure it was secure before he took off.

Astrid was surely up in her spirit cave but to make sure Hiccup flew by her house. Her bedroom was empty and so he immediately took off at a steep incline toward the clouds. Toothless flew higher and higher and Hiccup clutched the saddle with both hands. The wind was wiping past and he wished he'd brought the prototype of his flight suit's helmet.

No sooner had they taken off than the cave came into view. It had been a creepy crevice in the mountain's side but thanks to Hiccup it was more inviting. He had built a platform outside the cave big enough for two dragons. Stormfly was currently snoozing on it with her spiked tail draped off the side. At the sound of Toothless she shifted her head and opened one eye.

Toothless landed on the platform and Hiccup slid off.

"Hey, Stormfly." Hiccup gave her a pat on the side. She gave a grunt of a greeting and closed her eye.

The cave had previous been treacherously dark and impossible to pass through without a dragon. However that problem was fixed by a wooden walkway that extended from the platform and went all the way to the back of the cavern where Astrid would be. It was lit by torches hung periodically along the walls.

Hiccup started inside and Toothless gratefully stayed outside. Dragons were weird about spirits. Toothless had hated the cave from the very beginning. Stormfly wasn't too keen on it either. It's like they knew something strange and unnatural was happening within.

Astrid sat on the floor at the back of the cavern. The tub sized hole in the cavern floor that Hiccup had carved out had been emptied of water. Astrid said it had an eerie feel to it and she didn't like it. It spooked the spirits even. But the strange altar that the strange woman had built was still intact. And her odd yellow light was resting inside a lantern that Hiccup had hung from the ceiling. It lit the entire cavern.

The light had been a gift from the strange woman. Hiccup had never understood who she was or how she knew what she knew but without her help he never could have brought Astrid back. Who know where he'd be today without her help. And like the woman the light was strange and Hiccup didn't understand what kept it bright. He had decided that it was one of those things that it is better not to question.

Astrid was sitting beside the empty tub. Her eyes were closed and her chin was dipped a little toward her chest and she looked relaxed as if she were sleeping. Hiccup had come to know that this was her look when she had entered onto the spirit plane. Her body was anchored here and gave her a way back. Hiccup sat down a little ways away from her to wait for her return. It could be a while so he might as well make himself comfortable.

Spirits were a tricky bunch. Many were lost in the in-between world unable to cross over into the beyond. They were caught in the door and they didn't know how to get out. Many were confused and angered and just needed a little guidance. This is where Astrid learned to come in and help them.

At first the spirits were a little reluctant to come to her. They can feel the difference between them. It took a little while for them to accept her and come to her. Before, Astrid would find spirits that would accept her help. Now, they often come to her. It was strange to think that she was becoming famous in the spirit world.

Helping them was a little trickier. Some spirits she could talk to and sort out their problems verbally. Some spirits required more than just talking. Astrid had learned to enter into the memories of the troubled spirits and walk with them through lingering feelings and anxiety. It was a strange thing to try to explain. She had tried many times to explain it to Hiccup. Eventually he stopped asking and just went along with it.

Astrid had been met by a little boy as soon as she had entered into the spirit world that morning. He was five years old and couldn't grasp the idea of death. His pale cheeks were stained from tears and his throat dry and raspy from crying out.

Astrid had managed to calm him enough so that he could talk. She and he sat down in the darkness to talk through it. She'd never had to explain death to a child before and wasn't sure how to do it.

"I want to go home." He said. He kept looking around in the dark and trying to find something familiar. "I don't like it here."

"I know, it's really dark." Astrid said. "But you can't go home right now. You have to move on."

"But I want to go home. Why can't I go home?" He asked. "I don't like the dark."

"You've got a new home." Astrid said.

"I don't want a new home. I want my old home." The boy whined. There were tears welling up in his dark eyes again. "I want my old home. I want to go home."

"I'm sorry." Astrid said. "But there are people waiting for you on the other side."

The boy swallowed. "Who?"

Astrid had to think fast. "Anyone who's ever left. Like your grandparents and their parents."

"Are my parents there, too?" he asked.

She didn't know. "Are they not at your old home?"

"I don't know. They were with me when it got really hot." He said.

Astrid didn't know what to say. From his crying and rambling she had guessed that his house had burnt down. Maybe his parents had died in the fire as well. But then, shouldn't they be here? Or had they accepted death and moved on already?

"They could be there already." Astrid said. "They could be waiting for you. Or they might be looking for you. You need to go meet them there."

"Where?" He asked. "My new home? How do I get there?"

Astrid was stumped on that one. Most spirits understood what it meant to move on. This was one more complicated. If this boy didn't know what it meant to move on into the beyond then how was he going to go?

"Well, it's like…falling asleep, only…" Astrid said. She'd never moved on or had the chance to talk to a spirit that had. It was a one way street.

"I hate going to bed!" the boy said. He threw his arms across his chest and pouted.

Astrid sighed. This might take a while. She was about to attempt another explanation of death when she felt a presence beside her. It wasn't a regular spirit but rather one she knew well. Hiccup must be in the cavern with her body.

"Listen, I'm going to go but I'll be back. While I'm gone I want you to think real hard about what is bothering you, okay?" Astrid said to the boy.

"Like what?" the boy asked.

"Well, things like being mad or being sad about something. I want you to think about what you're feeling and when I come back you can tell me all about it. I want to know everything. Okay?" Astrid said.

"Okay." The boy nodded.

Not sure if her point was entirely understood Astrid gave the little dead boy a reassuring pat on the head. She stood up and relaxed back out of the spirit world. It was always a strange experience. It was like her entire body was being submerged in hot water when she came back to the mortal plane. It was the opposite when she left her body and went into the spirit world.

She came back into her limbs and their weight was momentarily a strange sensation. The spirit world was weightless and coming back always had a short adjustment. She was soon back to herself and sighed the stale air out of her lungs.

"Good afternoon." Hiccup said. He was standing a few steps away with that grin on his face. It always sent a warmth through Astrid's blood.

"Afternoon?" Astrid asked. "How long have I been up here?"

"A while. I came by earlier but I left just a little while ago and came back with lunch. Hungry?" Hiccup said. He gestured to a satchel of fresh bread and fish by his feet. "Ingrid said as I was leaving that you skipped out on breakfast."

"I did." Astrid said. Her mortal stomach was growling at the thought of warm food.

Hiccup reached down with a hand. Astrid took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"Johan arrived this morning with a letter. I thought we'd read it together." Hiccup said as they started walking back toward the platform outside. "And I brought supplies to write ours while we're here."

"Sounds nice." Astrid sighed. She inhaled the warm smell of the bread and the salty fish. Her mouth was watering. That's the last time she's skipping out on breakfast.

Alright, that's chapter one. I know it's a bit shorter than the previous chapters I've posted with this story. I try to aim for about eight to nine pages on Word but this one is only about six. Like I said, slightly less organized. Either that, or I'm running out of steam tonight and I really wanted to get the first chapter posted.

But whatever – whoo! Review, I'd love to know what you think of this first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2: The Ceremony

For some reason this chapter was really hard to write. I blame the migraine and sleep deprivation. Regardless, here it is! Whoo!

Chapter 2: The Ceremony

Many days' journey from Berk's shore was an island rich and plentiful. The locals called their home Odin's Rest. According to folklore Odin himself took rest on the island many years ago. Because of this it is said that the island yielded more than enough food for the island's inhabitants.

However they were not keen to share their home with strangers. Outsiders were not greeted with friendliness. The traders who stopped by were kept at the docks. Very few outsiders were let onto their shores and even fewer into their village. Two such outsiders came to their shores on the back of a dragon not too long ago.

It could have been their strange arrival that allowed the villagers to let them in. The young couple told them their story. They had both turned away from their home for the sake of a relationship. They had run away and had no home to return to. It was this lack of home that lead the villagers to welcome them into their home.

He, a strong and able-bodied youth who called himself Chuck, was given work with the local fishermen. He had spent many years of his life on the water of his birth home and had plenty of experience. She, a delightful lady named Esol, was taken in by the women of the village. She was soon offered work in the temple as a maiden. It was an honorable position in the village available only to unmarried women.

Between the two of them they held more knowledge with dragons than the entire village. They never had problems with the beasts. It was another blessing of Odin, they would say. However a nearby island had a sizable population of sly dragons Chuck identified as changewings.

"They're aren't savage beasts." Chuck had explained. He lured a few changewings out with fish. They had taken the bait and lost a bit of their unfriendly demeanor. "They're just overgrown kids."

Slowly the fishermen had made a friendship with the dragons and no longer feared their island. They would even sometimes help them catch fish, for a cut of the profit, that is.

While Chuck was out fishing and learning about dragons Esol spent much of her time in the temple. Being a maiden meant that Esol lived in the temple along with the other maids. When she was married she could leave the temple and move into a house in the village. A maiden's job was to take care of the temple and its many ceremonies and rituals. One such was the daily opening and closing of the temple doors.

The five maidens had just opened the temple doors for the day. Many villagers were waiting outside and the maids greeted them with silent and dutiful head bows.

"It is always nice to see you girls." said an elderly woman that people called Old Pearl. She prayed at the temple every morning and most evenings. She padded slowly inside with her old knees barely moving. She paused and smiled kindly at Esol. "It won't be much longer and you won't be a maid anymore. Just make sure you marry that man of yours while I'm still kicking."

Esol smiled in return. Maidens were taught not to speak. She gave Old Pearl a grateful bow of her head instead. Her maiden's headdress jingled a bit with the movement. As she lifted her head up she caught the sly glances of the other maidens. Alva winked quickly at her. They had been teasing her for months about getting married, expect for Rory. Alva said it was because she was jealous.

The maidens all wore ancient ceremonial robes. They were heavy and smelt of temple dust. Esol was used to its weight now but the first day she wore them left her sore and exhausted.

With the temple doors open the maidens began the routine of daily rituals. They watered plants and harvested the herbs from the garden. They carried the herbs into the drying room. They paid tribute to the statue of Odin in the temple with the villagers. The morning went by and soon the sun was directly overhead.

Today was a special day on Odin's Rest. It was the annual ceremony to renew the protections of the gods. It was the ritual that kept the island healthy and plentiful. It was the most important and the most sacred ceremony. It took place underneath the temple in a place only the high priest and maidens were allowed.

At noon the maidens went into the temple's hall to eat. The high priest would meet them there to begin the protection ceremony.

"I am ready to get this over with." Rory said. She had been a maiden the longest and knew all of the rituals by heart.

"I'm still nervous." Esol said. She'd never performed this ceremony before and didn't know what to expect.

Alva nodded in agreement. She didn't share Rory's confidence either.

"It's really not that bad. I mean, they make it out to be this huge ordeal but it's not." Rory shrugged.

"Oh, but it is a huge ordeal." said the crumbling voice of the ancient high priest. He came into the hall in his robes that were as old as he.

"I'm sorry, Father. I meant no disrespect." Rory said with a slight bow in her head.

"I believe you." said the high priest. His stone face lifted into a smile. But it vanished as quickly as it came. "I admire your confidence but I do warn you not to take this ceremony lightly. Without it our entire island could fall into darkness."

Esol was unsure if the high priest caught Rory roll her eyes. She didn't think so as he padded to stand in front of them. She wished he would tell them more about the ceremony. If it was so important then why couldn't he tell them about it? All they had been told was that it was to renew the island's protection and how to perform it. She wanted to know why.

"And now it is time." the high priest said with open hands. "Remember your training today. Rory, I'll ask you to lead the others down into the purification chamber. I will meet you there."

Rory nodded and stood up and the other girls followed her lead. Alva and Esol shared excited but nervous glances. She lead them through the hall and deeper into the temple. It grew darker as they went but Rory had lit a single torch.

"We only need one." Rory said a bit annoyed as one of the girls reached for a torch.

Alva clung to Esol's arm. She had never liked the dark. They were going deeper into the temple than they had ever gone. Soon they were descending downward along a spiral staircase. The wooden stairs became stone that had been carved from the dense rock beneath the island. The darkness was thicker and the torch seemed to only reach so far into it.

"We must be so far below the temple." Alva said quietly. Even her timid squeak echoed off the cold walls. She tightened her grip on Esol.

"How far does this go?" Esol asked.

"Far." Rory said.

"Rory, how many times have you done this ritual?" Alva asked.

"Too many." Rory said. She said in a bitter tone, "I've been here almost ten years. All the girls who started with me are gone and married and have kids half as old as me."

It was an old complaint. There were only two ways out of being a temple maiden. She either had to marry or die.

"You'll find someone soon enough, Rory." another one of the girls said with a wink. "You don't want to rush into the rest of your life like my parents. I'm glad to stay here so I don't have to listen to them scream at each other. As far as I'm concerned I'll gladly stay here until I'm as old as Old Pearl."

The others laughed but Rory was silent.

Further and further down they went until the stairs finally came to an end. The flickering of the torchlight the cavern before them opened up. Along the walls pale green vines had grown through cracks and along the jagged walls. On these vines grew blooming flowers with pedals that glowed iridescent as moonlight. Each flower was as bright as a star. The brightness of thousands of these flowers cast the tunnel before them in bright blue-white.

"It is beautiful." Alva said in awe.

"What are these?" Esol asked Rory as she doused her torch. Its light was obsolete next to the flowers.

"They're moon flowers." Rory said in the same awe as Alva. She was looking at the flowers in amazement. "They only bloom twice a year or so. But I've never seen them this bright before."

"What does that mean?" Esol asked. "I don't like it. It feels…off."

"I know what you mean." Alva nodded as she whispered. "It is beautiful but it looks haunted."

"Pff. Are you afraid of ghosts, Alva?" Rory taunted.

"No." Alva said quickly. "I just…I don't like dark places."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." Rory shrugged. She took charge down the hallway. "Let's just get there before the high priest sneaks up behind us and tells us off."

The others followed close behind her. The flowers were bright but even though they could see clearly the girls hung close together. The tunnel opened up into a wide cavern. The flowers continued up the walls and onto the domed ceiling. The flowers were bright enough that the hundreds of candles that lined the room were left unlit.

"This is the purification chamber." Rory said calmly. "It's so bright. I've never seen it so bright. We've always had to light the candles."

The maidens did as they had practiced. They arranged themselves in a circle so that they stood equidistant from one another. They enclosed their hands and in practiced synchronization they exhaled. The first steps were to clear their thoughts. Anxiety caused rifts and could harm the ceremony's outcomes. Before the ceremony could begin they must detox of emotions.

The high priest stood from his daily devotion. The ceremony was upon them. He was met in the hall by his worried son.

"Father, I need to speak to you." his son said with urgency.

"Then speak, child." the high priest said.

"Father, I have seen the signs. The moon will be dark tonight and the cavern flowers are blooming brightest. These events occurring on the same day as the protection ceremony mean-"

"They do not mean anything." the high priest said with a very stern tone.

"But, Father, the old ways-" his son argued.

"The old ways are obsolete." the high priest said. "Times have changed. The ritual will continue as planned."

"But," his son argued.

"I have heard enough of this." the high priest said. The ceremony was waiting below. He did have time to spare for such nonsense.

"I don't want to anger _It_." his son pleaded.

"It is not the same it as it once was." the high priest said with a stomp of his staff. "Now I must prepare for the ritual."

The high priest started to walk away but his son stopped him once again. "But, Father, what about the ceremonial staff?"

The high priest stopped and looked at the staff in his hands. True, it was not the staff for the ceremony. He turned around and grinned at his stone-faced son.

"Aha, you have saved the ceremony, son. I always walked away with the wrong staff." the high priest grinned. He walked passed his son and back into the high priest's room.

He did not see his son balled fists or his cold state.

"I am sorry, Father. I must do what I must. It is for the village." he said to the shadows.

The maidens stay in their circle until footsteps echo from the flowered tunnel. They broke their formation to greet the high priest. But it was not him, it was his son. In his hands was the ceremonial staff. He walked slowly to keep the bells silent.

"Where is the high priest?" Rory asked.

"He will not be joining you. I will take his place in this ceremony." the high priests' son said. "Before we begin I have a few changes."

"Changes?" Rory asked. "Why?"

"Do not worry about it." he said. "You will do nothing differently. "Let us begin. The time of appeasement is upon us."

He turned the staff upright and hit it hard on the floor. The bells rattled and jingled. The sound echoed off the stone walls and multiplied into a haunting clank. Alva grabbed hold of Esol's arm. She gave the worried girl a reassuring smile.

"Remember, no emotion." Esol whispered to her.

Alva nodded but didn't look at all reassured.

"Take a flower." the high priest's son said.

Rory reached forward to the wall and plucked a bright flower from a vine. The brightness dimmed as it was separated. The other girls followed her example. They tucked them into their headdresses. With the flowers in their crown they followed the stamping of the staff down a narrowing tunnel.

The flowers stopped growing and the tunnel grew dark. The only light came from the flowers they had picked. All around them the earth had ground still. Their timid footsteps and the bells were the only sounds. It was as if all life had ceased.

The walls opened up and vanished into darkness on either side. The ceiling rose and was swallowed. The thick darkness beyond was impenetrable. The flowers were dim in comparison.

"Begin." came the voice of the high priest's son.

They arranged themselves in a circle as they had practiced so many times. The high priest's son stood in the center of beat the belled staff on the hard stone floor. They danced in their circle, rotating around the center point, their motions perfectly coordinated and synchronized. The flowers' light was diminishing as the ceremony commenced.

Along with the bells he began to chant quiet words. From the deep within the cavern the darkness stirred. An unsettling shutter came from within the shadows. The stone came to life with shakes and rattling breaths.

Suddenly the high priest's son let out a terrible scream. In a fit he dropped the staff and it rattled on the cold floor and slid to a silent halt. He fell to the floor in a painful shout as he gripped his head.

"No!" he shouted over and over.

The flowers had lost their glow. The cavern was black. The high priest's son continued to scream as the ground began to shake. A thunderous gasp pulled on the darkness like a ravenous beast. The unbalancing ground shook Esol off her feet. She fell to the ground but she was not the only one.

"What is happening?" Alva asked in a panic.

"I don't know!" Rory shouted. She was as panicked as the others. "This isn't right!"

"Father, what do we do?" one of the girls shouted.

Through his screaming the high priest's son gasped out for breath. "Pacification!"

In the darkness Alva let out a frightful scream. Esol reached out for her but as she wrenched her arm out Alva's scream was cut disturbingly short. Esol felt the worst of sinking feelings in her stomach.

"Pacification!" he screamed as the rumbling was bubbling with a horrible thickness that lapped at their feet. It was as thick as water but it felt as free flowing as dense fog.

Suddenly his words were muffled as if something was shoved into his open mouth. Esol scooted herself away from the horrible sound when his voice was removed from the darkness all together.

On the surface Odin's Rest was as peaceful as it had ever been. The day of the protection ceremony was filled with festivals and feasts. With the setting of the sun a parade would celebrate through the streets. It was the time to celebrate another year's passing and welcoming another.

Above the island was a house perched on a small mountain. On its porch children were learning about herbs and medicinal plants from one of the island's respected elders.

"This one here with the curved leaves helps with sores." the woman was telling them.

This woman was born and raised on the island and had travel much in her years. She knew much of its history and its people. Many people sought out her wisdom of natural medicine and her large knowledge of the unnatural. Strangers look upon her with weary eyes but the villagers loved her.

There came a strange feeling on the island. The children did not notice but the woman did. She stood and halted her lesson. She looked toward the island's center where the temple stood. Something was amiss.

"Is something wrong?" a small girl asked her with large brown eyes.

The entire island shook. Thunder shuttered from underneath the earth.

"What is that?" another child asked.

The woman put up her tanned hand toward the child and looked toward the temple. She could see its doors. People were being pushed out by temple leaders. The doors were being pulled close in a hurry.

"Lydia, what is happening?" one of the older girls asked. The younger girl clung to her skirt.

"Go inside. Now. All of you." the woman said. She waved toward her house.

A shutter came from deep within the earth. It shook the entire island and the woman clutched onto her house to steady herself.

A heavy darkness began to seep from the temple's doors. It poured out of every crack and into the streets where it pushed and swallowed people whole. It flowed as poison through water and rose to swallow entire houses inside it.

"Inside!" the woman said urgently. She picked up the small girl and pushed the others inside her house.

She put the girl down and slammed the door behind them. She searched a cabinet for a jar which she used to paint a hasty red symbol on her door. No sooner had she lifted her wet fingers from the door than a terrible force pushed against it. The children clamored together and the small girl began to cry. But the woman wasted no time. She repeated the symbol on each wall.

Outside it sounded like nothing she had heard before. It sounded like a thousand blood thirsty beast crawling at the walls.

"What is happening?" a boy asked her.

"The malice has escaped." she said darkly. "The price for our island paradise has not been paid. It will spread and swallow us all."

Hiccup and Astrid sat on the edge of the cavern's platform. Their legs dangled off the edge while Toothless and Stormfly played on the mountain's rocky side.

"Thanks for this." Astrid said as she ate.

"You're welcome. Ingrid mentioned that you'd left before breakfast this morning and considering you missed lunch too, I thought you might be hungry." Hiccup shrugged. He'd eaten his fill but he hadn't been that hungry to begin with. He was trying to think of a way to ask her about the engagement. There didn't seem to be an artful way of doing it.

"So what does the letter say?" Astrid said with her mouth full.

"Oh!" Hiccup had forgotten about it. He reached into his shirt to get it.

Hiccup,

Hope all is well on Berk! Chuck and I have finally started to settle down here. He's fishing now and I'm spend most of my time in the temple. I finally got some time to sit down and write to you. I've become good friends with a girl that became a temple maid at the same time as me. Her name is Alva. Learning together makes it less daunting.

Hopefully by this time next year Chuck and I'll be married and I'll be taking care of a house instead of the temple. It's exciting to think about! What about you and Astrid? Do you have wedding plans yet? I bet it'll be a huge party because the chief is your father. I'd love to be there! When you do finally tie the knot you have to write me in length about it. I want to know everything!

Time's up, back to work! Write soon!

Chuck and Esol

"I'm glad they're settling." Astrid said.

"Me too." Hiccup said. He saw the chance to talk about marriage. He inhaled and took it. "You know, Astrid…speaking of marriage…"

"Has your dad been nagging you about it, too?" Astrid half sighed.

"Yes." Hiccup exhaled. "Did he said something to you?"

"It's not just your dad. My aunt has mentioned it a few times…a lot. She keeps saying that when she got married she was my age. And she always tries to sneak it in over breakfast." Astrid sighed.

"My dad's been the same way. It's gotten to be a daily thing with him." Hiccup said in relief. At least he wasn't alone in his problem. There was a pause and Hiccup was hoping that she was thinking the same thing he was. "So…what do you think about finally telling them?"

"I don't know." Astrid said. She'd stopped eating. "It's probably for the best. It'll give them something to think about for a awhile."

"…but?" Hiccup asked. She'd had that tone.

"But I don't want them rushing us into anything." Astrid said. "You know that as soon as the word is out all they're going to be talking about is the wedding."

"My dad is always trying to rush me into something. It's just how he is." Hiccup said. He was thinking of his father's comment about becoming chief but he didn't want Astrid to worry about that. "At least if we were married we'd live together and get to share a house and bed."

Astrid glanced at him with a sly grin on her face and it took Hiccup a few seconds to realize what he'd said. He turned away as the embarrassment settled into his cheeks.

"So, uh, how's your morning?" Hiccup coughed.

Astrid let out that genuine chuckle. It was the same small laugh that she made whenever he was embarrassed. He slumped a bit. At least his self-consciousness made her smile.

"It's been alright." Astrid said. She took another bite. "Although, when I left I was trying to explain to a little kid about crossing over."

"A little kid?" Hiccup asked. He was glad to talk about something else.

Astrid nodded. "He was around five, I'd say. I felt horrible because I didn't know how to tell him that he was dead. I've learned that if you tell spirits that they're dead straight away they can go into a panic. I don't know how a child would react."

"You could try to just be honest." Hiccup said.

"But how? I don't know how to cross over. But usually spirits have some kind of concept of what that means. To a child…they don't know what being dead means. They don't get it. And I don't know how to explain it to them." Astrid sighed.

Astrid looked deflated. Hiccup didn't know what to say about it. The spirit world was one place where Astrid was on her own. It bothered Hiccup that when she was there he couldn't help her. But that's how it was and he didn't know what to do about it.

Astrid ate the last bite and sighed. "You're right. It's about time people knew. But don't tell you dad without me. I want to be there. I want to see his face."

Hiccup felt relieved but terrified at the same time. "Okay. What about tonight at dinner? You and Ingrid could come over."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's not a red flag at all." Astrid laughed.

Hiccup shrugged. It probably was.

"At least Snotlout will finally leave me alone." Astrid laughed. But Hiccup didn't think it was that funny.

"Alright." Hiccup got up. "I'll leave you to it then."

"See you for dinner." Astrid nodded. She stood up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back into the cavern.

"Toothless!" Hiccup whistled to his dragon who was digging out a small dirt patch between rocks. He jerked his head toward Hiccup's call and bounded back across the mountain's steep rocks to the platform.

As Toothless landed on the platform her twisted his head back toward Astrid's cave. He growled and gritted his teeth.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked. There shouldn't be anything in there to cause such a reaction. He looked toward the cavern and back at Toothless. He was readying a blue plasma blast in the back of his throat. He was poised to attack.

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

Stormfly returned and her sudden and violent reaction mirrored Toothless's. Her tail was poised at a dangerous angle and her tail spikes were lifted. She lowered her head and spread her wings and called out a shrill chirp into the cavern.

I'm not really sure how to make it more obvious that the woman from the island who was teaching the kids about herbs is the same "mysterious woman" from the first one who helped Hiccup bring Astrid back. I know some of you wanted to know more about her and I didn't tell you because I knew she was going to reappear later. Yay!

So there is it – chapter 2. Leave a review so I know what you think! See you in chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3: A Change in the Air

It's been more than a week, I know, but here's chapter 3! Whoo!

Chapter 3 Something in the Air

Astrid hadn't realized she'd been so hungry. She walked back into the cavern feeling much better than when she had walked out. Time didn't pass equally between the two world and she often forgot that. When she was in the spirit world she became like the spirits. She left her physical being and the requirements it needed behind.

Thank Thor for Hiccup. Sometimes he surprised her with how thoughtful he could be. Although when he was absorbed in his work she might as well be talking to herself. She scoffed as she thought of that ridiculous flight suit he'd been working on. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

She stretched before she sat back down. She wasn't used to being so sedentary. Her muscles ached from the inactivity. She hadn't noticed until she had picked up an axe in the shop. It had been much heavier than she thought it should be. She complained but then she realized it wasn't the axe that had gotten heavier. Her arms had gotten weaker.

She'd have to change her schedule to get more exercise or she'll start to gain weight. The idea sent a horrible feeling into her stomach.

Astrid decided that she would go back into the spirit world and help the boy then she would leave the cavern and go for a run. Or maybe she would do riding with Hiccup. Ever since she started this spiritual diving she hadn't seen much of him other than at mealtimes.

Astrid sat on the floor when she was content with her plans. She relaxed and closed her eyes like she had done a hundred times before. The physical world gently loosened. She waited for the sensation of falling and was by now prepared for the chilly spirit world air. But it was not pleasant at all. She was plunged into rushing cold, like being swallowed by freezing waters. The chill penetrated her very being.

She was yanked away from herself, from the cave, from Berk. A dry grasp pulled her downward through the darkness at an alarming rate. A quick panic set in and she tried to pull herself out of the spirit world but she couldn't.

Something was different. Something had changed. It was much darker than it should be. The darkness was thick and swarmed at the edge of her vision. It was cold and she felt a delay in her movement.

At last she came to a stop. She was thrown into the ground outside of an old house. She recognized this place. It was the memory of the boy she had been helping. But something was terribly wrong. The memory had turned into a nightmare. The house and the darkness around it oozed with sinister whispers and flickering shadows.

"Hello?" Astrid asked toward the house. The boy should be right inside. That is where she told him to wait.

No one answered.

It was a vicious silence that rang back. Those whispers could be coming from anywhere at any distance. She turned and turned but didn't see anything. The whispers grew louder and louder until they were screams and wails. Thousands of spirits trapped in the in-between were crying out in fear, confusion, and pain.

"Stop it!" Astrid yelled at them, hands over her ears.

With a sudden whoosh the air grew quiet. Astrid uncovered her ears. The voices hadn't left. They had decreased back into whispers.

"What?" Astrid asked the darkness. What in Thor's name was happening? She had only been gone a few minutes and this entire place was in turmoil.

There was a shuttering inside the house, quick footsteps on creaky floors. Astrid ran to the door. The air had changed. It was so empty. It left her with a horrible feeling of floating.

She tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge. The wood looked like it hadn't moved in ages. It was dry and battered and she could see mildew and mold in several places. She put all her weight onto the handle and it finally gave in and creaked open.

The inside was worse than the outside. The smell nearly knocked her over. It looked like it had spent a decade at the bottom of the sea and was left to dry and rot in the sun. The hearth was cold and empty. Ashes were scattered about and mixed with growing fungi.

Astrid flinched at the sound of a muffled sob. It was coming from the back through a narrow hallway. Taking her time Astrid made her way over the creaky floors. The boards whined and cried and moved under her feet and every step felt as though it could give way.

She wished Stormfly was here. Having a dragon beside made her feel invulnerable. And this entire house was giving her a horrible feeling.

She followed the occasional sob to a backroom with a closet. She walked carefully to the closet doors which looked like they could crumble at the slightest touch. She gently pressed her ear against it. The sobbing was coming from inside and by the sounds it was a child.

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked through the doors.

There was a sharp inhale and the sobbing was halted immediately. She could feel his spirit through the door. It was the same boy she'd seen just moments earlier.

"Is that you? Are you okay?" Astrid asked. "It's me, don't you remember? I was only going to be gone for a little while. I came back, see?"

"You aren't one of them?" his timid voice whispered back.

"No." Astrid said. "But who are they?"

The closer door was pushed gently open so that the boy could see her through the gap. When he saw Astrid she heard him gasp. He pushed the door open and scooted over.

"Get in before they find you!" he said. He motioned with both hands.

Astrid crawled into the little closet and knelt down beside him.

"Close the door!" the boy cried.

She pulled the door closed. What light there had been was extinguished. She could barely make out the boy's face.

"Who are we hiding from?" Astrid whispered. Even in the dark she could see how nervous and shaky he was. He was holding his knees and rocking back and forth.

The boy didn't answer her question but instead made a sobbing whimper.

"Why did you hide?" Astrid asked again.

"Because I was afraid." He said.

"What were you afraid of?" Astrid asked.

But the boy couldn't answer. He shook his head and buried it in his knees.

"Can you tell me what happened when I left?" Astrid asked.

"I was waiting like you told me to. I was waiting and then everything got cold and I couldn't see. Mean people started screaming and they chased me and I hid in here." The boy said in a sobbing whisper.

Astrid didn't know what to do. She did know that she wasn't going to sit and hid in a closet. She pressed a hand against the door and pushed it open.

"Where are you going?" the boy asked.

"Stay in here. I'm going to look around." Astrid said with a reassuring smile that the boy did not return.

"Be careful." The boy said. When Astrid had crawled out of the closet the boy pulled the door back shut.

She stood back in the house and tiptoed to an open window. Outside was bleak and dark. A mismatched village of home and cottages loomed in the darkness. It was as if hundreds of memories had crashed together. Whatever pleasantness the spirit world had had was gone. It had been thrown into disarrayed and violent madness.

_ Creak. Creak. Creak._

Astrid froze at the window. Those were footsteps. Distinct and careful footsteps on the rickety floor of the hallway. She hadn't been moving and the boy was still hiding so those footfalls belonged to someone else. She turned slowly to peer back down the hall. It was too dark to see anything.

_ Creak. Creak. Creak. _

The footsteps were coming closer. Astrid swallowed her fear and took a few steps toward it. She stood in the hall's beginning but the darkness was too thick. She could see it swarming like flies, like the black ink Hiccup trades for. Something was moving on the other side, crawling through the shadows.

"Hello?" Astrid asked. It had to be a spirit. If it was not a spirit then what was it?

She was answered by a dry raspy cough. Nails scraped along the wooden floor and rough skin dragged across it. The dank air was sucked into an inhale. Astrid took a step back. Was it her eyes or was a dark shape emerging from the shadows?

And from the shadows it came. A thin human shape made of shadows, dripping blood along the floor, a face twisted and ruined, thrust itself toward her with a horrible cry.

_ I don't belong here!_

Astrid barely had time to throw her arms up in defense. The monster came at her and she felt the ground knocked from underneath her. The floor hit her hard and she was stunned at the impact.

_ I don't want to die…_

"No!" Astrid yelled. It was surrounded her and pinning her down.

_ I want to go back. Show me how to go back!_

It shook her violently. Hard grips on her shoulder were tearing into her. A heavy pressure was squeezing her, pushing her downward. It was an attack on her being and the malice seeped into and frozen her core. Everything around her began to shake and darken and Astrid feared the worst. Horrible screams surrounded her and threatened to drown her.

She tried to fight it but nothing seemed to work. She was being crushed. She couldn't scream. She couldn't move. The darkness was swallowing her.

I know that was a lot short than my chapters generally are but I am going through the worst writer's block I've ever had right now. It's this weird cold snap that completely sucked the juice out of my brain. Revising this chapter took almost three hours. It's a nightmare.

I had the rough draft of the second part of this chapter but I can't revise anything else right now. It'll be up eventually. Maybe later this week. I don't know.


	4. Chapter 4: Opportunity Knocking

Huh, so I didn't expect to finish this tonight but turns out I did. I won't have time to upload it for the next few days so I'm finishing that part up tonight too.

This chapter was supposed to be part of chapter 3 but I ran into some serious writer's block and I couldn't do a single thing. It was horrible. But, I'm better and this came out! Yay!

Chapter 4: Opportunity Knocking

It didn't matter how big his armada was or how many villages he burned. It wasn't enough. He wanted Berk. He wanted Hiccup. He wanted that damned Night Fury.

Dagur had spent the last few years in a vicious cycle. He had been defeated time and time again by Hiccup and his blasted friends and trained dragons. He had vowed revenge but so far had been unfruitful in his efforts. It was always the same. A bigger army. More ships. More men. Better armor. Better weapons.

But it was never enough.

He enjoyed it; but conquering was only fun while it lasted. When all the houses were burned to ashes and the bodied were stacked the fun was gone. He was left with that deflated feeling. And it would start over. He would find a new village and lay siege. He would offer the survivors a choice. Either they could die or join his army.

But when it was all over with all he could think about was Hiccup and his Night Fury.

"AHHH!" Dagur screamed and thrust the knife he had been fiddling halfway into the wooden desk. He was in the ornate captain's quarters of his latest war prize. It was a little fancy for his tastes but within time he could make it more…him.

Whenever he thought about Hiccup and that dragon he was filled with such rage that it sent his crew fleeing. He yanked the knife from the desk. He wouldn't fill that void as long as Berk stood and its people were alive. He would have his revenge and destroy the entire island. And he would make sure that Hiccup was last. Dagur wanted Hiccup to see everything he had be ripped away.

A knock rapped on his door.

"What?" Dagur spat. He hated being disturbed.

"Is everything alright, sir?" asked a weak voiced solider from the other side.

Dagur groaned. "I am fine."

He was one of those morons he'd picked up from the last conquest. About as smart as the dirt on his boots. He would have to go, no question about that. The question was how. Dagur could think of a hundred interesting new ways to kill a man. There were the classics like an axe to the head or a sword through the neck. And then there were the fun ways like 'how long could a man hold his breath under water' or 'what happened if he tied a man to the bow of the ship' or 'how many limbs could be removed without death'.

Footsteps padded away from his door. Dagur slunk into the desk's chair with a groan. The captain's quarters came with a window and he could see the expanse of the ocean. Everyday, it looked the same. A chilled wind slipped in but Dagur shrugged it off. Warriors didn't get cold.

"One of these days, Hiccup. I'll come back for you. And this time you won't get away." Dagur said to the empty room.

He couldn't rid himself of the absolute anger. He thrust the knife back into the desk. He yanked it back out. He thrust it back in. Soon he was carving his own décor. He could see his reflection in the blade. It was much better than anything his buffoons of blacksmiths could make.

_ Revenge? Always the clichéd tale. _

Dagur griped the knife's handle and poised it ready to make the intruder bleed. No one just walked into his room. He spun around but there was no one there.

_ Ah, hearing voices? You must be losing your mind._

"It's too late for that." Dagur laughed. "They don't call me Dagur the Deranged for nothing."

_ Full of yourself? Such the braggart. _

"Excuse me?" Dagur spat to the mysterious voice. "You dare to speak to me like that nad yet you're the one hiding?"

_ Oh, I'm not hiding. _

"Then show yourself!" Dagur demanded. He thrust the dagger into the air. He really wanted to stab someone.

_ I can't. _

"Oh really?" Dagur scoffed. "Are you invisible?"

_ To you, I am._

Dagur paused. He drew the knife back toward himself. He hadn't expected that kind of an answer. He felt a tremor in his chest. He swallowed his caution. Warriors felt no fear. "What? Are you some kind of a ghost?"

_ Yes. _

Dagur gripped the knife with white knuckles. He didn't believe it. There was someone hiding somewhere to frightening him. The very idea that someone that they were being funny at his expense infuriated him. He scanned the room for a hiding place. The closet was the best place for one of his idiot crewmen to crouch. Nowhere else was big enough.

"Oh, a ghost. That's very interesting." Dagur said as he tiptoes over to the closet. He paused, savoring the anticipation, basking in the panic and fear that must be boiling inside the idiot that he was about to skewer. He yanked the door open and thrust the blade inside.

But there was no one inside. The shiny blade had stuck through an empty coat. He was sure there had been someone inside. There was no where else for someone to hid. He didn't understand. Whoever it was must be smarter than he thought.

_ What did you expect to find?_

Dagur growled.

_ Did you not believe me?_

"No, I didn't." Dagur spat.

_ That is understandable. I wouldn't believe me either. _

"And why is that?" Dagur said.

_ Nothing about a disembodied voice says trustworthy. _

_Dagur humphed. "Fine. So you're a ghost. Whatever. What do you want? Is this supposed to be your ship or something? Come back to haunt me because I slaughtered you and your people?" _

_ No. I couldn't care less about the blood on your hands. _

"Then why are you here?" Dagur asked. This was getting annoying. He didn't like people that hid their true agendas. That is why he enjoyed his crew. They were stupid but they were straightforward.

_ I don't know. A rift was torn and I was able to escape. _

"Escape?" Dagur asked. "From where exactly?"

_ That is better left unsaid. _

"Oh?" Dagur said with a curious eyebrow. "Were you in jail? A criminal? What kind of horrible things did you do?"

The voice laughed.

"What is so funny?" Dagur slammed the knife back into the table. He hated being laughed at.

_ Dagur the Deranged. The name fits._

"Of course it does." Dagur said.

_ What were you talking about before? Revenge?_

"Yes." Dagur said. "I was wronged but a horrible little…brat and his cursed dragon. I will make them pay if it's the last thing I do!"

_ Hiccup of the isle of Berk?_

"Yes." Dagur answered, surprised. "Do you know him?"

_ Yes. I too have been wronged by him. _

Dagur adjusted himself. He was among a new friend, for an enemy of his enemy is a friend. "Then I believe we have a common goal."

_ Yes. If you truly want revenge on Hiccup and his dragon I will help you. _

"What's in it for you?" Dagur asked. He had become skeptical of truces with shady people.

Revenge.

Dagur thought it over. He could use this mysterious stranger's help but what sort of help could he give? Dagur had tried everything. What made this 'ghost' any different?

_ I am not an ordinary person. I can do things that a living human can't. I can give you the upper hand. _

Dagur tapped his hand on the desk. It was tempting. He could take the offer and always back out in a double-cross later. He was thinking this plan over when he realized he was considering accepting help from a ghost. He burst with laughter.

_ Hm?_

"I do like the sound of winning." Dagur said. His laughed turned sinister. "Who knows, this could be the thing I need to finally destroy Hiccup and his dragon and everything on Berk. It'll be so beautiful on fire! I can almost see it and smell the burning homes and sizzling bodies and hear the terrified screams of pain and suffering."

_ Yes, but before I can help I need something from you. _

Dagur groaned. "Oh, right, what's the catch? You want gold? Power? A ship named after your mother?"

_ No. A body. _

"What?" Dagur asked.

_ A body. Preferably with a weak constitution. _

Dagur laughed. "There is plenty of useless meat laying about. Take your pick."

A hurried knock came to the door. "Are you alright, Dagur sir? I heard you talking to someone."

Dagur grinned wickedly. That moron would do nicely. For one he had excellent timing.

"Oh, I need someone to do something pointless. Come in." Dagur said with fake helplessness. He was such an idiot he wouldn't notice.

The man opened the door and stepped in with purpose. Big and dumb was his profile, along with the majority of the other crew.

"Yes, sir, what do you need?" he asked.

What happened next surprised even Dagur. The man seized up and fell to the floor gasping. His hands rushed to his throat and clawed at it. His eyes were bulging and rolling up into his head. He gulped and gasped and shook on the cabin's floor.

Dagur pushed himself to the desk and put it between him and the horrible scene. He prepared to end the man's struggle for life when he suddenly stopped moving. Dagur moved back around while the man lie still. When he began to move Dagur jumped back and armed himself with the knife.

The change was instant. The man was no longer reflecting stupidity but his eyes were cold and calculating. His entire being radiated with sinister intentions.

"And…?" Dagur asked.

"It feels good to be human again." the man spoke but it was not his voice. It was the voice that Dagur had heard in his cabin. Dry and weathered, it was a voice that could strike fear into a useless crew. Dagur loved the sound.

He began to laugh. This time he would have his revenge on Hiccup and he would be victorious.

Remember when I said I had a title but I didn't want to put the story under that title because it would give away a spoiler? This chapter is that spoiler. The title that I had was "Cheating Death: Dagur's Revenge". Cheesy? Totally. But I don't care. It gets the job done.

Slide a review my way and tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Alright! Busy week at school but somehow I managed to get this chapter done. Onward!

Chapter 5

Blackness surged, swallowed, and eventually stilled. Astrid could see nothing and felt only cold emptiness. She couldn't concentrate; anxiety was rampant. She couldn't stop the panic. Movement was slow. Despite the emptiness the air was heavy.

Through the silence she heard a distant murmur. Where had it come from? She wanted to go toward it but she couldn't move. She tried to speak but words couldn't come from her throat.

_ Astrid?_

She knew she had heard her name. It had been muffled but clearer than before. She urged the voice to speak again. She'd find it.

_Astrid? Astrid!_

It was closer. Was she moving toward it or was it moving toward her? She couldn't tell.

"Astrid!" Hiccup was calling her.

Finally she could feel. She was able to pull herself back into her body. She landed back in it like a bag of rocks. She felt the heaviness of bones and flesh all at once. Her chest heaved and she gasped for the cavern's chilly air.

"Astrid?" Hiccup was kneeling over her, cradling her head and shoulders in his arms. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I don't know." Astrid gasped. Her voice was raspy and her throat was dry. She put a hand to her neck and Hiccup put a canteen to her lips. She graciously accepted the water and drank nearly half of it.

"You went back inside and I was getting ready to head back to the village when Toothless and Stormfly sort of…panicked. It was like there was something they didn't like in here. They wouldn't come in but I couldn't fly away and leave you in here alone." Hiccup explained. While he talked he griped her shoulder and hugged her right. "I-I don't know what happened but you were on the floor and I couldn't wake you up. You started…having some sort of a fit. I didn't know what do to. I-I panicked."

"It's alright." Astrid said. She was weak and when she tried to stand her legs shook. Hiccup reached out for her arms to steady her. Normally, she would have let go of him when she was to her feet but she was too unstable. She felt as though her legs would give out at any moment. She kept a weak grip on Hiccup's arm. "I need to go back."

"What? No!" Hiccup shook his head. He tightened his grip on Astrid.

"Hiccup, something happened to the spirits and I need to know what. I know the answer is there. I just have to look for it." Astrid said. She griped the front of shirt.

Hiccup opened his mouth to argue but closed it. He sighed, shook his head, and said "Fine. But I'm not leaving until you come back."

"Okay." Astrid said. That was fine. She felt comfortable with Hiccup being there. Although he didn't look at all comfortable with the idea.

"Be careful." Hiccup said as Astrid sat back down on the cavern floor.

Astrid couldn't confirm that. She was nervous about what she was about to dive into. She inhaled, and exhaled slowly to relax into the spirit world. The spirit veil was much too easy to penetrate. The separating wall between the in-between world and the living world was weaker, transparent, and turbulent. Astrid was pulled into the thundering darkness and thrown to the grown.

The spirit world had molded into a conglomeration of memories that expanded and faded into the distant shadows. Astrid began wandering through the mismatched streets, looking for anything. Spirits were far and few and most were unresponsive.

Astrid jumped when doors were thrown open. It had come from the second floor of a stone and wood house where a woman clung to a balcony's rail.

"Hey!" Astrid called to her.

The woman's spirit stood up on wobbly legs. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

"Can you hear me?" Astrid called.

The woman wailed and threw herself from the balcony. Astrid heard the horrible thump of a body's weight slamming onto the hard ground. A small building separated her from the scene and she paused before running around to where the woman had fallen. Astrid was prepared to see a mangled woman but when she came around the building the ground beneath the balcony was bare.

"Hello?" Astrid looked up to the balcony. She took several steps back to see onto it.

Suddenly the woman burst through the doors and fell onto the balcony, clinging once again to the rails. She stood and sobbed into her hands and Astrid could only watch as the woman threw herself from the balcony. She landed on the solid ground with a bone crunching thud. Astrid couldn't stop the shout that came from her throat. But the body didn't linger on the ground. No sooner had it smashed into the ground than it faded into it. And the cycle began again.

"What?" Astrid stepped away from the scene. She didn't want to witness the scene again. She turned and took several quick stepped but it wasn't far enough to not hear the thud. Astrid cringed at the sound but kept going. She wanted as much space between her and the falling woman as possible.

It was the same with every spirit she encountered. They acted as though she weren't there. She could only watch as they rounded the cycle of their death, again and again.

An old man clutched at his chest, fell gasping to the floor, where he lay twitching, where he eventually stilled and faded into the ground. He repeated, again and again.

Astrid had the sinking feeling that this is all she would find. She came to the winding's street end at an old stone well. Behind it a wall stretched into the breathing shadows. She was about to turn down another path when she heard the sound of a contained cry. She looked to the well. Her stomach wrenched.

It had been a cry she'd heard. A baby's cry.

She inched toward the well. She didn't want to look in but she couldn't help it. She wanted to help it, pull it out and cradle it, anything to make it stop crying. It was such a terrible and sad sound.

The gravel surrounding the well crunched under her feet. She crept to the side and cursed herself as she bent to look inside. But she had no sooner looked past the well's edge than a dark head blocked her view. A face followed, curtained by thick black hair, dotted with great black bloodshot eyes, widened to a frightening size.

Astrid threw herself backward and stumbled. She fell to the ground as the black hair and eyes pulled the rest of itself out of the well with white scrawny arms. It was a skinny woman that followed, hair a flattened mess and clothes in tatters. She opened her mouth to let out a scream of a wail.

The scream shocked the dark streets and Astrid didn't want to stay any longer. She clawed her way away from the woman and when there was enough room between them she flipped herself over and clamored to her feet.

"My baby…" she heard the woman cry.

Astrid ran from the woman, from the well, from the echoing screams of the infant. The woman's voice faded but the child's screams were slow to die. She ran until she couldn't any longer. She just wanted the sound to go away. At last she collapsed and it was there she stayed until she caught her breath and calmed her anxiety.

But the solace didn't last long. She could still hear sobbing but it did not belong to the woman or the child. Astrid searched the shadows for the source. They were growing thicker and darker. Astrid looked behind her but the village of memories was gone. She was in some kind of a courtyard surrounded by trees she'd never seen before and a massive stone structure.

She came upon the source of the sobbing. It was a young girl crouched against a stone wall. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she trucked her head into her arms. She was wearing robes Astrid had never seen before. This girl wasn't like the rest of the spirits. She had a solidarity that spirits and their memories didn't have. She looked almost…real, like a living person.

"Hello?" Astrid asked. It was worth a shot. But Astrid didn't anticipate the girl's head to tilt upward and green eyes to stare into hers. "Can you hear me?"

The girl nodded. She was clearly as intimidated by all this as Astrid was.

"Can you tell me what happened? Why is all this like this?" Astrid asked. She was so relieved to find someone that could speak to her that she had forgone formalities and cautions.

The girl didn't respond. She kept staring at Astrid with those piercing green eyes. Astrid inched her way toward the girl. She kept her hands out and open as a peace offering. She came within arms distance of the girl and paused.

"Can you talk?" Astrid asked. The girl seemed to nod but Astrid wasn't sure. Her eyes were looking at her but there was no identifying what she was thinking. Astrid reached out to her with an open palm.

The girl screamed and shoved Astrid's hand away. At the moment her hand came into contact with Astrid's it was as though she had been submerged in frozen waters. Astrid was thrown into a rushing mash of memories, roaring past in flashes and quick sounds. There was an island, houses and huts, a temple with dark corridors and flickering torches, and five identical robed girls in a dark cavern. At the back was a horrible hole in the hard stone floor. Darkness was swirling inside of is as thick as blood.

Flashes came of a dance at the foot of the pit, a man stood in the center, from the pit a bubbling pushed the bloody darkness upward in thundering clamor. From the pit the darkness burst, airborne, blindingly fast, and overwhelmed the dancers. The man in the center screamed and grabbed a girl and with inhuman force threw her into the pit. She was swallowed by a thousand hungry hands that pulled her downward into the pit. The girls scatter as the darkness bound toward them. The huddled in a clump.

Astrid fell to the ground. She sat up but the girl in the robes was gone. She sat for a moment to digest what she had seen. The girl that had just been here had been the girl thrown into the pit. But what did that mean? What did any of it mean? Whatever those dance rings had done had woken something inside the pit and like a beast it burst with darkness.

Astrid knew that whatever they had done had something to do with the spirit world's chaos. But was there a way to reverse it?

Astrid walked around the temple and found the massive doors. She pushed against them but they were shut tight.

"You don't belong here."

Astrid spun around. Standing not far from her was a robed man on jerky legs. His arms dangled carelessly from his shoulders. There was a energy emanating from him that the others had lacked. It was threatening, malicious, menacing. The darkness swirled at his back like arms.

"You shall not trespass here."

His movements were not his own; he walked as a stiff puppet on strings. Astrid looked for the quickest escape route but on either side walls rose. She was trapped. She pressed her back against the doors but still there were held fast.

The robed man moved with astonishing speed. In a blink he was only a few inches away from her. She could see the white that had swallowed his eyes. He pushed her through he doors and she crashed onto the temple's floor. His angry howls were echoing off the cold walls. Astrid struggle to get to her feet but dark hands surged from the floor and grasped her. She fought them and could feel ice where they had touched her.

Astrid didn't give him or the hands a chance to make another move. She ran. The halls twisted and didn't seem to end. She could hear him behind her moving through the walls like the shadows at his back. How could she outrun a phantom? She hadn't feared spirits for so long and she had not desire to return.

When Hiccup had successfully brought her back to life the spirits had tried to pull her back to the underworld. But she had managed to communicate with them and make something of a mutual agreement. But it seemed now that it was off.

She took a look behind her and crashed into a wall. The lower half creaked with her weight. With the robed man chasing her she had to think fast. The pushed on the lower half of the wall and it opened. She crawled through the opening and found herself in an altar room.

It was lit with a strange light although the hundreds of candles that lined the walls were cold. On the floor in front of the altar was a dark clump in the center of a dangerously red stain. A hand was exposed and clinging to the edge of the altar. Astrid was frozen at the scene. She didn't know why but she knew this had something to do with it as well. Death had an unnerving way of ushering in disaster.

"You don't belong here.'

The robed man's voice was ice and left her with gooseflesh.

"Here."

Astrid was surprised to hear a second voice. It was not the robed man who'd chased her here. It came from an elderly man standing beside the altar. He hadn't been there a moment before. When Astrid looked at him he gestured toward the wall.

"What?" Astrid asked. The elderly man wasn't consumed with dark energy.

The elderly man slide the wall to the side and revealed a narrow passage. Astrid hesitated but when she heard the robed man in the hall she darted through. As she passed him Astrid could feel the energy coming from the elderly man. It wasn't the same as most spirits. It was…she wasn't sure how to describe it. It was like welcoming and friendly. It was…warm.

The passage was narrow and dark. Astrid ran a hand along the rough rocky wall to guide her. She couldn't move very fast and she was taken by surprise when the door from the altar room was closed and left her in complete darkness. There was a horrible sound like the slicing of flesh and the sticky splashing of blood. There was a yelp from an old throat and a thud on the floor.

Astrid shook her trepidation off and kept going down the dark passage. It seemed to go on forever. All her could hear were her feet upon the ground and her haggard breathing. Suddenly, she slammed into something solid. It was blocking the passage but wasn't stone. It must be the exit. She pushed against it but it didn't budge. She tried sliding it as the elderly man had done and to her relief it began to move.

Pale light was seeping through and she managed to get it open enough to squeeze herself through. She was back outside the temple in some kind of courtyard. There were multiple flower beds but they were all dry and dead. The nightmarish fog was thick and it swirled and bubbled and crawled over the courtyard walls.

"You don't belong here."

Astrid felt a heavy drop in her chest. The passageway hadn't helped her escape the phantom robed man. He appeared in the fog, as part of it, and all at once rushed forward to swallow the flower garden and her. There was nothing to hold onto and she was pulled downward by a hundred frozen shadow hands. It engulfed her and was suffocating, like water drowning her very spirit. She fought against the cold and dark.

It was like before, when she thought she wouldn't be able to escape she could hear the distance voice calling her back home. At last she could fee her body and she clawed from the darkness back to it. The heaviness was worse than before and it left like she was underneath a great rock.

"Not again." Hiccup said immediately. He was not holding her but he was kneeling over her with that worried look on his face.

"Hmm?" Astrid

"You can't go back." Hiccup said with a sternness that he didn't show very often.

"Hiccup, I think I know what happened." Astrid said as she tried to sit up. Her body was weak, like bread dough, and it felt as useless. She collapsed but Hiccup caught her. He pulled her into a sitting position.

"It doesn't matter, Astrid." Hiccup said. She enjoyed seeing him serious and determined but not when it was aimed at her. "You can't go back. Here."

He handed he the canteen and she drank.

Hiccup sighed and a brief compassion came over him. "What did you find?"

Waters around the island were unnaturally still. The only ripples came from the fishing boats.

"I don't like this." said one of the fishermen.

Chuck shook his head. He'd never seen anything like this. Before storms the waters grew calm, but not like this.

"Let's head back." one of the fisherman said and they all agreed. With no wind they were using paddles to aim all the boats back to the mainland.

"What is that?" "What the hell?" "Odin's breath."

These were just a few of the gasps as the island came into view. They should have seen the greenish blue of land against the horizon but instead they saw a vicious gray cloud. They got closer and closer but the fog did not alleviate. The fishermen and their boats sank into the fog. It was quiet save for the breathing of the men and the splashing of water against the boats.

The fog was thick enough to block out the sunlight completely. They struggled to find the docks and tie up the boats. The streets were disserted and the village was a ghost town.

"I'm going home. You all should to." one of the older fisherman advised.

They guys went their separate ways but there was no way Chuck was going home to just sit and wait for something to happen. He was going straight to the temple. That's where Esol was and he had to make sure that she was alright.

He ran through the empty and dark streets until he made it to the temple's massive doors. He banged his fists against them but no one answered.

"Hey!" Chuck shouted at the doors.

"They will not answer."

Chuck spun around to see that creepy woman that lived in the hut over the village. The villagers regarded her as some kind of wise elder but she gave Chuck a chill when she looked at him. Her eyes were dark and could stare straight into his soul. Lydia, they called her.

"Why not?" Chuck asked.

"You must get in side." Lydia said with urgency. "The malice has spilled and it will swallow you whole."

"What?" Chuck asked.

"You must come with me. It is not safe out here." Lydia urged, almost pleaded.

Chuck looked back at the temple trying to place his argument in words.

"You are no use to Esol if you are taken." Lydia said. "Come with me."

Chuck didn't want to be he followed her. They went back through the village at a pace he didn't think she was capable of. They went back to her high hut where several children couched in a corner upon their arrival.

"It is only me, children." Lydia told them. Their relief was visible one their tired faces. She turned back to Chuck, "Sit, I will make you something to drink."

She stroked a fire in the hearth and boiled herbs in water. The soothing smell of warm grass and flowers filled the little hut. She placed a hot cup of the tea in his hands.

"Can you tell me what's happened?" Chuck asked. He'd thought this was supposed to be paradise.

"The malice has spread. They have shut the temple doors to protect the village from it. No one gets in or out." Lydia said.

"But why is this happening?" Chuck asked.

Lydia sighed. She answered him darkly, "Something has angered it."

Chuck opened his mouth to speak but she spoke first, putting a hand up between them.

"Please, ask me no more about it. I have been sworn to secrecy and I cannot break that vow.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just sit here while Esol's in there." Chuck said.

"We are powerless against the malice." Lydia shook her head.

"What, are we supposed to just sit here and wait until it goes away?" Chuck asked He was almost shouting.

Lydia shook her head. "It is not of this world. It comes from the beyond. There is nothing we can do about it."

"The beyond?" Chuck asked. He thought for a moment and left his blank eyes staring at Lydia. She was watching him but he didn't care. "Astrid!  
"Astrid?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, she's a friend of Esol's and mine. She can talk to dead people and stuff." Chuck jumped up and spilled his tea. He sat the cup down and dried the hot liquid on his clothes.

"Astrid? Of Berk?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah." chuck nodded. "Do you have something I and write a letter on?"

"I am sure I do." Lydia said. She searched her home and came back with paper and a small jar of dark ink.

She stood over him while he scribbled a letter to Hiccup and Astrid. She said nothing but Chuck didn't care. This was too important to care about other things right now.

"How will you get this to them?" Lydia asked.

"I'll sail out and wait for one of the traders to show up." Chuck said. "I know Johan isn't due for a while but maybe I can pay another to take it to him or to Berk. I'll get it there. Don't worry."

"It is dangerous out there." Lydia warned.

"I don't care. I have to do _something_." Chuck said.

"Are you going to save us?" A little girl clutch his pant leg.

"I'll do what I can." Chuck patted her on the head.

"And in the meantime I will do what I can to keep the people safe. I will look for people and bring them to the communal building outside the temple. It is big enough to house many. We must be strong and have faith and patience." Lydia told Chuck and the kids.

"Right." Chuck said as he folded the letter. "I'll see you later."

Lydia nodded him a goodbye as he left the warm house for the cold outside of the village.

"Are you sure that is what you saw?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm sure, Hiccup. I mean, it went by fast but I'm sure." Astrid nodded.

Hiccup had waited until Astrid could at least stand up without falling over to let her leave the cavern. She'd flown down on Toothless with him to village. She began telling him of what happened in the spirit world and when they landed on front of her house she had just finished telling him about the robed man and the temple.

Hiccup slide from the saddle and held a hand out to Astrid. She didn't like being treated like this but she needed to be. She ignored his hand and tried to get down on her own and fell. Hiccup caught her but she pushed him away. She hatred being weak and useless, he knew, but was he suppose to just let her fall?

"Whatever happened in he spirit world was caused by whatever those people were doing." Astrid said with certainty. "I want to go back and investigate or something."

Astrid pushed the door open. Ingrid wasn't home and the house was quiet. Hiccup escorted her upstairs to her room. Hiccup had suggested that she rest and she had agreed, although reluctantly.

"Worry about it later, Astrid." Hiccup said. He hoped to Thor that she would listen to him for once. "You need to rest. We'll talk about it when you're feeling better."

"Fine." Astrid shrugged. She plopped down on her bed.

"Astrid," Hiccup said. "I know we agreed to tell our parents at dinner but maybe we should postpone that."

Astrid made a sound that sounded like an agreement. Hiccup pulled the blanket over her and before he'd put on foot on the stairs he could hear her gentle breathing and occasional snore.

Hiccup didn't know what to do. The spirit world was the one place that he couldn't go with her. She was one her own and he hated that. This was one part of her life that he couldn't help her with.

Back outside he patted Toothless. He gave Hiccup a carefree nudge and a face that Hiccup had learned to appreciate as a smile. Stormfly retreated to the stable beside Astrid's house and curl up. Hiccup offered her a flight around the island with Toothless and him but she sighed. She wasn't going without Astrid.

And that's chapter 5! Didn't feel like I was going to get out of that blasted block but I did. Thank goodness for Minecraft, right? And thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! I'd love to hear what you guys think.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated. I'm not sure if it has but it feels like it. There's just been a lot going on. But I haven't forgotten!

Chapter 6

A week had passed since Hiccup had escorted Astrid back to Berk from the mountain cavern. And it was in her bed that she stayed. Hiccup stopped by the Hofferson house each day to see her but the results didn't vary. Astrid was either sleeping, which had become a tremulous affair, and fighting to wake herself from whatever nightmare, or she was barely awake and struggling to remain so. Hiccup didn't know what to do.

It was his preoccupation with Astrid that kept him from noticing the minor disturbances that were occurring throughout the village. Stoick, however, was not spared, as many of these disturbances were whispered to him hushed voices. No iron-wielding Viking wanted to publicly admit to being bothered by something they couldn't identify.

Hiccup was on his way to see Astrid after his minimal lunch when he spotted the first oddity; two Vikings whispering in soft voices beside the village well. Their faces were not the brave and determined Vikings they normally were, instead the looks shaken and anxious. When they spotted Hiccup they ceased their speech.

Hiccup dismissed this. Vikings didn't always have to make sense.

Ingrid was sitting at the table. The pallor of her skin was only rivaled by the trembling of her hands. She clutched a cup of mead between them.

"Ingrid?" Hiccup said as he took a step toward the table.

"Hm?" Ingrid blinked . She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked. If Ingrid was down here that meant that Astrid was most likely asleep. She had been keeping a vigil on Astrid since Hiccup had brought her home.

"Oh, no. It's nothing." Ingrid shook her head.

But Hiccup knew that tone. It was steady but marred by a whispering uncertainty. It was the same as Astrid's when there _was _something troubling her. Hiccup pulled the second chair out from the table and sat down.

"Ingrid? Is it Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, no, it's not. I think." Ingrid shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Hiccup asked.

Ingrid sighed. She closed her eyes and gently shook her head. She glanced toward the stairs before she began to speak, "I think this house is haunted."

"What?" Hiccup asked. He swallowed. He didn't like that word.

"I keep seeing things…shadows move in the corner of my eye but when I look there is nothing. I get this feeling that someone is standing behind me but I know that I'm alone. And I swear I can hear someone walking up and down the stairs. But when I look, Astrid is in bed." Ingrid shook her head. She took a long drink of the mead. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to blame her…but it's the only explanation."

Hiccup bit his lip. Could it be Astrid? Or was it whatever had happening in the other world? He turned his head to look around the room but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary; just the normal Berk chill. But something had clearly bothered Ingrid. She wasn't the person to get shaken up easily.

"I'm sorry, it's probably nothing." Ingrid shook her head. She gestured to the hearth. "I made soup but she wasn't awake. Take some up there. Maybe you can get her to eat. Poor girl is getting skinny."

Hiccup nodded. The pot of hearty soup was keeping warm over the fire. He ladled a portion into a bowl and headed up the stairs. He made note of the sound that each stair made. At the top he paused. How could they made sounds unless someone was walking up them?

Astrid sighed in her sleep and Hiccup shook those thoughts off. She was laying on her side and clutching the blanket in a tight fist. She was breathing hard, as if she'd been running. Hiccup set the soup down on the bedside table and reached down to gently shake her shoulder.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked. When he had called to her before she had always came back to him. "Astrid, wake up."

Her hand twitched and her face scrunched up as she groaned. It was like she was trying to wake up but couldn't. He pulled the chair up to the bed and sat down.

"Come on, Astrid. I know you can do it." Hiccup said.

She started to make struggling sounds, whined under her breath, and rolled onto her back. She arched and several bones popped and cracked. The sound made Hiccup cringed. It took a few more attempts to coax her awake but finally he managed to pull her out of it. She blinked several times and rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair.

"Good afternoon." Hiccup smiled. It was nice to see her blue eyes again.

"Afternoon?" Astrid asked. Her voice was dry and weak.

"I brought you some soup." Hiccup said.

Astrid nodded. He helped her to sit up and he did notice a subtle change. The color in her face was gone. Even in the week that she'd slept she looked thinner, sickly so. She took several grateful spoonfuls of the soup before she spoke again.

"Hiccup, I went back to the temple and I think-"

"Astrid, I told you not to." Hiccup interrupted. By Thor she was stubborn! He pushed the soup toward her.

"Hiccup, listen-" Astrid managed to say before she accepted another long drink.

"Astrid, you're killing yourself! You need to stop going back to that place." Hiccup said. He was putting his foot down this time.

"I can't help it." Astrid said in a voice that made his heart bleed. It was pitiful, helpless, and depressed. "It pulls me back, I wake up there. The robed man chases me there. I can't. I just…can't."

"Astrid," Hiccup said. He hadn't heard her sound so defeated. "It's…fine. Just tell me what you were going to say."

But Astrid was fighting with the words. Her eyes were fighting her to close and her movements were numbed. She tried to speak but her words were mumbled and muffled with her body's inability to stay awake.

"Astrid?" Hiccup reached out to keep her from falling out of the bed. She collapsed into his arm. Sighing, he laid her back onto the bed. She hadn't lasted but a minute or two.

The time she could keep her spirit in her body varied. It had been as long as an hour a few days ago but it could be as short a as a few seconds. At least this time she had eaten something. Hiccup kissed her head before leaving her to her fitful sleep. He felt guilty for leaving her but he knew there was little he could do.

He bid goodbye to Ingrid and she gave him a halfhearted wave in return. He brushed a hand through his hair as he made his way back to the heart of the village. He wasn't paying attention as he walked passed the well but a strange sound brought his feel to a halt.

A cry from within the well was echoing off the stone walls. A terrible surge of fear bloomed in his chest as the sound resonated. Something was clawing at the stone like it was trying to get out. Panicked, Hiccup rushed to the well's side.

The darkened water rippled as if something had just fallen in. When he was this close he could hear the sound better. It didn't sound…normal. The water began to rage and a hand burst through it.

"Hold on! I'll get you out!" Hiccup called down to them. But no sooner had he reached to the rope and bucket beside the well than the rest of the body came after it's hand.

It was a woman, skin frozen white and splotched with bruises, black eyes bulging, sockets deathly dark, mouth gapping open without a sound. Hiccup stood rooted to the spot, rope grasped tightly in his hands. Her sudden shout brought the sensation back into his legs. He stumbled backward and tripped over the rope. The sound vanished as he collided with the ground.

Hiccup was stunned for a moment but carefully picked himself up. He held his breath as he peered over the well's edge. He expected the same horror but the woman was gone from the dark depths.

The day passed and Hiccup tried not to think about that face. Wanting to get his mind on something else he thought this would be a good time to test out his flight suit prototype. He stopped by the smithy with Toothless, who was eager to get back into the sky. He sniffed the strange leather and eyed Hiccup with a strange and curious look.

"Oh, it'll be fine." Hiccup reassured him as he lowered the face mask over his mouth.

With a few good laps around Berk and no major problems with the suit he took Toothless higher and farther, testing the wind resistance and wind shield, and making sure that it didn't all fall apart once the wind picked up. As the afternoon turned into evening Hiccup was satisfied with his first real test result. He was thinking of all the modifications he could do as they landed outside the smithy. He unloaded his suit and before he forgot he scribbled his new ideas into his book.

The test had been an excellent idea. A flight always took his worries away and left him feeling liberated. But now that his feet were back on solid ground those worries were beginning to leak back in. He headed home and hoped there was still some dinner left. His small lunch was catching up to him, it felt like there was a tiny dragon in his stomach.

His elevated mood was deflated as he stepped into his house. The fire was blazing and the hour old smell of mutton waffled, but Stoick sat at the table with his concerned chief's stare squinted at the fire.

"Uh, you alright Dad?" Hiccup asked. Toothless however was unperturbed and headed to his basket of fish.

Stoick groaned. "Where do I start?"

Hiccup grabbed the left over mutton and sat down at the table.

"Vikings have been complaining about the strangest things." said Stoick. "Half of them are terrified and the other half think they're going mad."

Hiccup choked. "Wh-what? What kind of things?"

"I thought they were all going mad myself until I saw what they were talking about." Stoick shook his head. "I came home, put the mutton on the fire, and wasn't gone but five minutes. I came back at there was a woman I'd never seen before standing beside the fire. I was about to say something when I blinked, and she was gone."

"And…that is what other people are saying they're seeing?" Hiccup asked carefully.

"I've been hearing about all sorts of nonsense. Shadows moving about, people talking but there's no people that should be talking, footsteps in empty rooms, and the animals are all in a frenzy. I don't know what to do about it." Stoick shrugged. His glare shifted from the fire and landing purposefully on Hiccup.

"Yes?" Hiccup asked, trying not to sound guilty.

"Do you know why this is happening?" Stoick asked.

"Uh…well…not really." Hiccup shook his head. But his father's stare was persistent. He swallowed and told his father about Astrid's predicament. "I don't know what happened in the spirit world but I guess it's effecting everything."

"So something happened and now all these…dead people can wander around freely?" Stoick asked. "Is there nothing that lass can do about it?"

"Not like she is now." Hiccup shrugged. He was at a total loss. And he told his father so, to. "I don't know what to do. I can't go with her into the spirit world and she can't stay awake long enough to hold a conversation. I don't know how to help her or Berk right now."

"This is what I feared would happen." Stoick said darkly. "It all started with that woman. I never trusted her, and you shouldn't either. There are things we shouldn't mess with and the dead is one of them. One of the first ones, I'd think. Because nothing good comes from messing with the otherworld."

"I'm sorry, Dad." Hiccup said.

"It's fine, son. There's nothing to be done about it now." Stoick said. "But I warn you, Son, it won't be long and people will start to blame her for what's happening."

"I know." Hiccup sighed. Maybe they could figure this out before it came to that.

Astrid was beyond frustrated. She couldn't stay awake and when she was it was like being submersed into thick mud. Every movement took so much energy that she didn't have. She was back and forth between her room and the temple. How long had it been? Hours? A day? Maybe even two. She didn't know. There was no way to tell.

Hiccup came by and he would speak to her. She could hear his voice. It was because of him calling her that she was about to pull herself back, even if it was momentary. But she hadn't managed to tell him. She never had the time. When she thought about it, she would black out again and fall back into the shadows of the spirits' mess.

She was in its halls again when she heard Hiccup's call. She reached for it and tried to pull him closer to her. She fought to hold onto it with everything she had. At last the darkness weaned and the wooden ceiling of her bedroom came into focus. Hiccup was sitting there, dutifully, smiling a warm greeting. Seeing him was such a comfort that she couldn't even explain.

"Hey, I brought you some breakfast." said Hiccup. He was holding two plates and holding one out for her.

"It's morning?" Astrid asked. The smell was amazing. Her stomach rumbled viciously at the sight.

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded.

Astrid pushed herself up on her elbows to eat but her arms gave out. She fell back down to the bed and groaned in exasperation. Hiccup set the plates down and reached out to help her but she pushed his arms away.

"I can do it." Astrid spat. It wasn't aimed at him but she saw the defeat on his face. She couldn't push herself up to a sitting position. She was Astrid, her name was synonymous with strong and fearless. But she felt like a dead yak. She sounded like one too.

It took tremendous effort but she pushed herself up. Hiccup was on the edge of his seat and wanted to help her but knew that she'd only push him away again. She would have, too.

"Hungry?" Hiccup said, picking the plates up again.

"Yes." Astrid nodded. Food never tasted so good. She ate quickly and as much as she could. She was still exhausted but not as bad as she could have been. This time she might be able to stay awake for more than a few minutes.

"Hiccup, how long has it been?" Astrid asked. She dreaded the answer but she could smell herself.

Hiccup hesitated. "About a week."

"What?" Astrid nearly dropped the plate. "A week?"

She had assumed maybe two days. But a whole week? No wonder she felt so…disgusting. She hadn't cleaned herself in a week. She pushed the plate back to him and drew her legs up to the edge of the bed. She knew her legs would not support her but she refused to admit it. She stood up and Hiccup was the only reason she did not collide with the floor.

"What do you need?" Hiccup said quickly.

"A bath. Let's go." Astrid said. She motioned him toward the stairs. "To the wash basin downstairs."

Hiccup swallowed but he did as he was told. He supported her down the stairs and into the backroom. Ingrid was out of the house so it wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Besides, it wasn't like he'd _never _seen her naked before.

While she undressed Hiccup went outside to fetch the water from the well. She pulled a fur over herself as the front door opened and closed. She dumped the water into the basin. She could see the distraction on his face but let it slide.

"Astrid, I don't feel comfortable leaving you in here." Hiccup said to the basin. "What if you fall asleep and drown?"

Astrid sighed. He was right. "Fine. Stand over there and face the wall."

"The water isn't warm at all." Hiccup said. He was stalling.

"That's fine. I'm on a timer." Astrid said. A cold bath didn't sound fun but it was all she had. She wasn't going to complain.

She waited until Hiccup was by the wall to drop the fur. She dipped a finger into the water. It was freezing. She jerked her head back to him.

"Are you looking?" She asked.

"No." Hiccup said quickly.

She kept an eye on Hiccup's back as she quickly washed. She felt immensely better but she could feel the dregs of sleep returning. When she was finished she was shivering. With a shaking hand she pulled the fur back around her.

"I'm done." Astrid said. Her voice was oddly intrusive on the quiet.

"Astrid, don't fall asleep. You need to get dressed." Hiccup said in a hasty and fearful tone.

He was right. She couldn't leave him in that awkward situation. But the sleep was edging closer and she didn't care if he was looking. She heard him shuffle and she let the fur fall and reached for her undergarments. It was only after she'd put on the basics that Hiccup came to help her. She noted the pink across his cheeks but didn't have the voice to poke him.

Hiccup helped her up the stairs. At the top she could see the bed. Underneath it lurked a cold white face. Blackened eyes watched her like a hungry dragon watched the open water. But she didn't have time for their scary nonsense. Right now she was more worried about making it to the bed before she went out completely.

She collapsed onto the bed and was out before Hiccup let go of her.

The next several days on Berk went by with tense nerves and shifting eyes. These strange occurrences had become the daily talk. Ingrid had found a small bloodied girl hiding in her cupboard. She was huddled right between the dried fish and eggs. Ingrid was so shaken up that it had taken several cups of mead to calm her down.

Gobber had taken all the complains with a grain of salt until he had his own. He had been accusing someone of lurking in the forge, shuffling his things, and coughing. But one night his lack of accusations had struck the table odd. He revealed that he had seen the perpetrator. When the other Vikings ask him who it had been he wouldn't say.

Sven believes himself to be going mad. His field is full of wandering shadows that do not vanish in the light. They moan and whine and keep him up at night. They are persistent and frighten the sheep. Bucket and Mulch are worried about the chickens. They are very upset, they say. The animals are all in a frenzy. They won't hardly come out of the barn. They huddle together and shake.

Snotlout projected himself above the stories until he received his own starting experience. He returned home to find a strange man in his home. When he thrust a sword at him the sword fell right through and stuck in the wall behind. Fishlegs had woken half the village one early morning with a terrified scream. He had seen a shadow man standing at his bedside.

But the most obvious of worries were the dragons. They were twitchy, nervous, and ready to attack. The Vikings are become attached to their dragons companions and when something was bothering them, it bothered the Vikings.

The complaints were becoming concerns and Vikings were not afraid to voice them. They wanted answers and they wants these strange things to end. Stoick was at his wits end. He was not equip to handle such unnatural problems.

What could he say to them? That the girl who spoke to dead people had nothing to do about the dead people wandering the village? They weren't buying that anymore.

Vikings were finding any excuse to leave the village. The dragons could use the exercise. The fish supply was getting low. It wouldn't hurt to have a few more scouts out. The excuses went on. But one afternoon, Stoick received news that pushed the wandering dead from his mind.

Astrid woke to the unfocused ceiling. She blinked several times and tried to will her body to move. She rolled onto her side and was surprised to see Hiccup sitting there.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Huh?" Hiccup jumped. He looked up at her and smiled, straightened his back and sighed.

"Are you okay?" Astrid asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm good." Hiccup nodded. But he was lying. She kept her eyes on his, willing him to speak, and he finally gave in and blurted it out. "The village is being terrorized by dead people and people are starting to blame you. I don't know what to do and people are losing sleep and getting cranky."

"Hiccup, I think I know how to fix it." Astrid said. "And where."

"How?" Hiccup asked. He looked exhausted.

"I kept going back to that temple, and there is this cave underneath it where whatever broke the spirit world happened. There are these girls there, doing some kind of ritual, and I've seen their faces, Hiccup. Esol is one of them. Wherever she and what's-his-name went is where the rift started." Astrid told him. She had been meaning to tell him but she had never had the time.

"What?" Hiccup asked. "But…are you sure?"

"Yes." Astrid nodded. "I'm positive. We need to find them, Hiccup. As soon as possible. We have to go there."

Hiccup didn't look to enthused. He rubbed his face and sighed. "I'm sorry, Astrid. It'll have to wait."

"What?" Astrid asked. "Why? I thought Berk was in trouble."

"It is, but there's a second part to my, uh, list of troubles." Hiccup said.

"What is it?" Astrid said. "The village is being haunted. What is more important than that right now? If don't want a Viking mod to come knocking on my door."

"I know, I know, Astrid. Do you not think I've thought about that?" Hiccup asked in a hollow tone. He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Look, something else has come up. One of the scouts came back this morning and said they saw Berserker ships. Three days out, maybe. We have to prepare for battle."

"But…it's just Dagur. I mean…we've faced him before." Astrid said. Why was he so worried about Dagur?

"Yeah, but they said he's got an armada ten times the size. Apparently he's been busy while he was away." Hiccup said lowly. "Right now, there is nothing we can do about the ghosts. We have to focus on defending Berk from the living threats first."

Astrid started to get up. Her entire body felt like mud. But before she could get out of bed Hiccup put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Hiccup. I have to help." Astrid said. She tried to push his hand off but he wasn't letting up.

"I know, Astrid. But you can't. Not like this." Hiccup said. He gently pushed her shoulder back down to the bed. She wanted to argue but knew it was useless. His eyes were determined and focused.

And he was right about her. Like this, she would be useless in a fight. She'd get herself killed. Useless. That word rang like poison in her mind. She hated it, especially when it was her. It made her feel so…worthless.

Hiccup cupped her cheeks and rubbed a thumb underneath her eye. His face softened, like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't put it into words. He leaned down and kissed her.

"I'm sorry, Astrid." he whispered. "Stay here. Dad and I will deal with Dagur and then we'll deal with the ghost problem together. I promise."

He leaned back and kissed her head. She could feel the sleep pulling her back. She fought against it but eventually lost. Hiccup stayed where he was. The last thing she saw was of him sitting beside her. His worried face blurred into the shadows of the other side.

Ah, Hiccstrid fluff. I love it! I didn't do my extra proofread over the second half so I'm sorry if there's typos or grammar problems. I know I should, but I'm exhausted and I set today as my deadline. It's technically past midnight so I kind of failed…kind of. Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you'd like.


	7. Chapter 7: Sound the Horn

So…it's been a while lol - I haven't forgotten this story but I've been preoccupied with the others. I'm trying a new system of shorter updates - so instead of the eight pages I usually swing for with this story I'll be doing scenes at a time, unless I go on a roll and end up doing several scenes at once. Who knows? Lol, Onward!

Chapter 7: Sound the Horn

Berk was filled with tension. The strange occurrences have been forgotten with the very real threat of war on the horizon. The air had shifted. Hiccup couldn't ignore it any longer. The clouds thickened and blocked out the sun and left the entire island cloaked in shadow. The blockade of Berserker ships didn't improve the mood.

Hiccup stood with Stoick on the docks. Dragons and riders were on high alert and ready to move out on a moment's notice. They were waiting on Stoick, for his signal, for the wave of his fist into the air that would declare war. The horn would sound and hell would spill.

"There is the ship." Hiccup said, looking through his spyglass. He had been waiting for them to move. And a smaller boat and coming toward Berk. It was the messenger, the terms, preliminary courtesy of oncoming war.

"Let's go." Stoick nodded to his son. They mounted their dragons and headed to meet it.

Halfway between the Berserker army and Berk, dragons met ship. They hovered in the air above it. Dagur was on board along with several armored Berserkers. They stood still as statues and they gave Hiccup the creeps. The air around the ship was thin and the dragons were uneasy.

"It's alright, Bud." Hiccup patted him, but Toothless growled.

Skullcrusher was having the same reaction. Stoick tried to calm him but she shook his head and grunted with dislike.

"Hiccup!" Dagur greeted him with arms out stretched. He stood in front of his lined men. He dropped his arms and held them behind his back as a malicious sneer spread across his face. "It has been too long. I do hope you've been well."

"Dagur." Hiccup said. "What do you want?"

"Your surrender." Dagur said simply. He laughed, "Surrender, or I'll destroy you, your island, and everything else around it. It's really a simple choice, I mean, come on."

"No." Hiccup shrugged.

"You're not going to surrender?"

"Of course not." Hiccup shook his head.

Toothless growled and tried to pushed them away from the ship. Hiccup reached down and patted his head. He twitched to the side. Hiccup scanned below. He didn't see anything but there was something about that ship that the dragons did not like.

"We've beaten you time and time again, Dagur. What makes you think a few more ships will make a difference?" Stoick boomed.

"Oh, I've got more than just ships." Dagur grinned. "Yes, my army is bigger and my ships are more powerful, my weaponry is outmatched, but, I've got a secret weapon just for you."

"Is it a catapult?" Hiccup asked. His father glared at him. Now was not the time.

"No, _dear _Hiccup, it's something that you'll never see coming." Dagur said slowly, twisting his words downward.

The water around the ship began to churn. The water bubbled and foamed. Hiccup's first thought was of an earthquake. But Dagur was too unaffected, too coy, too happy to see their reactions. The air that bubble upward was heavy, thick, like water. It gave Hiccup a horrible gut feeling. The dragons reared up without a command and growled as the water rippled.

The side of the boat were darkened with clawing hands, skeletal, decayed, exposed hands. They climbed up the sides and pulled their sea-eaten bodies with them, boney mouths gasping for air, dripping sea water onto the desk, clasping broken swords and dented shields, barnacles grew from limbs and weapons.

"What is this sorcery?" Stoick shouted.

Dagur was on his knees with laughter. Hiccup and Stoick exchanged a serious and worry. Hiccup was unsure what his father was thinking but this war just took a very steep turn. Was Dagur controlling the dead? But how?

More and more climbed onto the ship until the deck was nearly full. The dead shouted anger fists into the arm and waves their broke equipment toward them. The dead had come to Dagur's aid.

Skullcrusher roared and fire into the crowd of skeletal beings, knocking several of them back into the ocean, and setting the ship on ship. Toothless joined him and fired into the dead, and the fragile peace was shattered.

A great thunderous roar filled the sky as ships closed in with shouts of war coming from thousands of armored Berserkers. The sky over Berk darkened with hundreds of dragons and their deafening calls. Fire and arrows filled the space in streaming arcs. They came together in a fiery crash.

Hiccup and Toothless maneuvered through the ships and dragons, avoiding catapults, nets, and arrows, and blasting holes in ships. He didn't understand how Dagur could be using the dead. Could Astrid do that? He needed to know what Dagur was planning and how he was pulling it off. But he couldn't wander freely on his ship looking for answers.

Toothless dove and narrowly missed a catapult flung stone. But missing it came at a price. Arrow streaked across the sky and Hiccup thought they had made it through when toothless began to wobble.

"Come on, Toothless!" Hiccup encouraged.

He looked behind to see the hole through the red tail. An arrow had pierced it. Toothless was loosing his altitude quickly. The ships below them were all covered in flames. But there was little he could do with such a short amount of time. They would crash.

X

Stoick's arm grew tired but he wouldn't stop until either he was dead or they were defeated. Among the clatter of the battle he heard the shrill cry of the night fury. Panicked, he looked to the sky. The black dragon crashed onto a burning ship.

"Hiccup?" Stoick mouthed.

He called to Skullcrusher despite the immediate threat around him. As they lifted into the air, Stoick could only watch as a dragon's stray fireball fell from the sky and the ship burst into splinters. Fiery pieces fell into the water that reflected red. Stoick was over the wreckage as Toothless scrambled from the water onto a piece of driftwood.

He was irate and calling back into the water. The rigging of his tail had been burned and bent in several places.

"Son?" Stoick scanned the water, but there was no sign of life.

Dagur burst into laughter, "The first victory of war!"

He let out a howl that was echoed by the thousands of men. The ships began to recede together as if one entity. Stoick was frozen where he sat. Skullcrusher gave a grunt and a shake. The rumor of death floated upward through the dragons and the somber flapping of their wings filled the silence left by warfare.

At Stoick's signal the dragons began to fly back to Berk, with Toothless between two, his broken tail flapping helpless. Stoick paused at the water with hope that Hiccup would pop up, fine as ever, but he didn't. The water stilled as the last bits of the ship still above water burned black.

Xxx

I have envisioned this story and have solidified it - from this part on the outline was really vague but now it's not! YAY!

…I love ending on a dramatic cliffhanger. Who doesn't?


	8. Chapter 8: The Letter

Ah, the biter sweetness of a cliff hanger and the subtle relief that follows. The joys of writing :-).

Chapter 8: The Letter

It was with the heaviest of hearts that Stoick returned to the shores of Berk. Skullcrusher made land fall and all around him dragons and their riders filled the empty square. Toothless's anguished cries wracked his heart over again. It was his own grief made into sound.

"What now, chief?" Someone called.

"We fight back." Stoick boomed over their heads. Silence hissed back at him, the dreadful sound, and made his own that much louder. "We take down Dagur, and his entire army, with Thor's vengeance, without hesitation. Burn their ships and drown their soldiers."

Fists were raise around him and a war whoop resonated. Stoick caught his breath in his throat and swallowed what emotions may threaten to come out. For now, there was no time to mourn. For now, there was only battle.

X

The commotion outside was the sound of retuning Vikings. Dragons landing and their wings coming to a halt. Stoick's boom rang over them, a deathly silence in it's absence, a silence which stung Astrid's chest like a arrow. She pushed herself out of bed and threw herself out of it. She stumbled to the floor. Picking herself up, she clamored down the stairs.

Astrid made it to the doorway and wrenched it open. The day was gloomy but it was nothing compared to the faces of the Vikings she saw. Even the dragons shared their misery.

"What?" Astrid mumbled to herself.

She heard the horrible shrill cries of a wounded night fury. The sharp arrow jabbed in her chest twisted as she ran out to find him. The crowd parted and she could feel their eyes watching her. But she didn't care. Not right now.

Toothless was crumbled on the ground, his tail curled around him, the artificial tail fin broken and torn and snapped in multiple places, the saddle burnt and empty.

"Hiccup?" Astrid mouthed.

Toothless let out a moan and his large green eyes fell upon her. He unfurled himself and came to her, nosing her gently in the stomach, letting out the most pitiful sound she'd ever heard. It sounded like a cry. He sat down at her feet. She held his large head in her arms as the dragon wallowed.

"Toothless, what happened?" Astrid asked, but somehow she already knew. Tears pushed at her eyes. Her breath fought back. She buried her face on Toothless.

Stoick's steps stopped nearby. A large and heavy hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up, not trying to hid the distraught tears, and when Stoick's face mirrored her own grief, she couldn't hold them back anymore. They ran down her cheeks.

"No," Astrid coughed.

"I'm sorry, dear." Stoick whispered. If he spoke any louder his disquiet would have been clear to the entire village.

She knew that Stoick had to be strong. This was a time of war. The chief had to be the mast of the ship. He had to told them together. But she had nothing to tie her bravery to, nothing to anchor her Viking pride. The darkness could do as it may. The dead could wander the village. She didn't care. With Hiccup gone, she crumbled.

Stoick lifted her and carried her back into her house. Toothless slumped behind him. He sat her back into her bed and instructed Ingrid to make something warm. He would see if he couldn't bring something stronger back by. It would be a rough night.

Astrid wished the sleep would take her. She didn't want to be in this world any longer. But when she wanted it, it felt far away. She sat up and held her knees tight. Toothless curled into a corner and sulked. Stoick was right. This would be a long night. A long forever.

What would she do?

X

Back outside, Stoick felt the hammer in his chest loosen just a little. Seeing Astrid fall apart had given him the boost that he had needed. It was easier to be the strongest when others needed him to be. He headed toward the Great Hall. There should be a barrel of mead that would ease the pain, even just a little.

He held the barrel on his shoulder and was halfway back to the Hofferson house when he was stopped by Gobber.

"Stoick, it's Trader Johan!" Gobber pointed with his hammer-hand toward the docks.

Stoick squinted toward the sea. Between Berk and the blockade there was a moving dot.

"How did he get through?"

"I guess we'll have to asked him." Gobber said, then mumbled, "If he's still alive."

Stoick dropped of the barrel at the Hoffersons and followed the rest down to the docks where Vikings were waiting anxiously as Trader Johan's ship drifted closer to the docks. Someone was moving on board and when he was close enough he waved to them, showing he was just fine.

"Johan? You're early." Stoick announced.

"Yes, I was given an urgent delivery. I skipped several stops to make it here as soon as possible." Johan said.

"How did you make it through?" Gobber asked as Johan dropped his gangplank.

"Oh, with my trader's promise not to harbor weapons, and with a few persuasive gifts." Johan shrugged. "But they laughed, a bit menacingly, that it wouldn't matter if I did. A bit too sure of themselves, if you ask me."

"They've got wicked sorcery on their side." Gobber said.

"Aye, the dead is it?"

"How did you know?"

"That's not the first story I've heard. It seems strange things are happened all over the archipelago." Johan said. He scanned the crowd. "Where is Master Hiccup? I must give him this letter."

Stoick couldn't bring himself to say it. But at the silence that his question stirred, Johan drew his arms back to himself and cleared his throat.

"He isn't here." Stoick said at last. "But Astrid is. I'll take it to her."

"Uh, I've been sworn to delivery to either Hiccup or Astrid and no one else." Johan said.

"Well, then you'll have to take it to her. She's on bed rest." Stoick sighed. He pointed Johan to the right house and promised to guard his ship and treasures with his life.

X

Astrid couldn't sleep. She could see him sitting there, beside her bed, with that worried look on his face. If only she had gone with him. If only she had made him stay with her. If only.

She had crossed the room and sat down with Toothless. He laid his head onto her lap and pouted. She had left the cup of mead half-drunk on her beside table.

"I know, I miss him too." Astrid said.

"Excuse me," came a strange voice downstairs. "I'm supposed to delivery this to Miss Astrid."

"Oh, she is upstairs." Ingrid answered.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Astrid sat up and waited for him to climb the stairs. Toothless gave a quick sniff to the air and then settled back down in her lap. Trader Johan appeared at the top of her stairs. It was strange to see him out of his ship.

"I apologize for the interruption," Johan said.

"What do you have for me?" Astrid asked.

"A letter." Johan said. He pulled it from his shirt pocket. "From Mister Chuck."

"Oh!" Astrid hadn't even thought of that. Her face fell. Hiccup usual brought them to her and they read them together. "Thank you."

Johan crossed the room and put the letter into her open hand. He stood a bit awkwardly fiddling his fingers. "I am terribly sorry, Miss."

"Thank you." Astrid's voice was dry.

Johan tipped his head and left the same way he'd come. Astrid waited until she heard the door close to open the letter. With a shaken hand she pulled the paper from inside. It was from Chuck and written with a hasty hand.

_Hiccup and Astrid, I hope you get this soon. Something has happened in the temple. People are vanishing. The island is covered with this fog. Shadows are alive and move. Lydia says it's because the malice has spilled. I know it might be out of place to beg for your help, but I didn't know where else to turn. I know Astrid can communicate with the dead. If anyone can save us, she can. Please, help us. _

_ Chuck_

Astrid read it over and over. She jumped up, leaving Toothless moaning with the lack of his pillow, and jumped down the stairs two at a time.

"Astrid?" Ingrid called as she bolted through the front door.

She ran until she caught back up with Johan. He hadn't made it halfway to his ship yet and came to a stop when she called.

"What is it young Miss?" Johan asked.

"Please, I need to know where this island is!" Astrid motioned to the letter still clutched in her hand. "I need to go there."

"Oh, well, I was asked to keep it a secret. The people there are very distant." Johan shuffled his feet.

"Johan, the dead will keep spilling out unless I can close the rift." Astrid said with clenched fists. She may have been _sick _but that didn't mean she still couldn't bully men into doing what she wanted.

Johan coward back a few steps and sighed. "I can show you. I have a map on my ship."

Johan led Astrid to his ship where Stoick and Gobber stood protectively at the end of the gangplank. When Astrid followed Johan into the ship's hull, they both followed behind. A large map covered one wall of what looked like makeshift office.

"It is about here." Johan pointed southward, to a tiny dot on the map.

"That's only about a two day's flight from here." Astrid said. She wasn't sure how the distance on the paper reflected real distance.

"What? You're not thinking of flying, Astrid?" Stoick interrupted.

"I have to get there as soon as I can, Stoick." Astrid turned to speak to him. "All of this otherworld stuff is happening because of something that happened on that island. If I can get there I might be able to fix it."

"And if you can't?" Stoick asked.

"Then it doesn't matter anyway." Astrid said lowly.

Stoick caught his words.

"But you can't fly, lass. You're asking to drown." Gobber said.

"He is right." Stoick said. "You're not flying anywhere in your condition."

Astrid looked at Stoick knowing that she'd already lost the argument. And she knew he was right. As much as she'd like to be on Stormfly, it as asking for trouble. In determination, she turned to Johan. "You can take me there on your ship. You know the way."

"Aye." Johan nodded. He looked between them all with a wary suspicion.

"That sounds like a better plan." Gobber said.

Stoick inhaled, keeping his eyes on Astrid, and exhaled slowly. "Fine. But do your best to make it back, regardless. I don't want to loss the both of you."

"Yes, Chief." Astrid nodded.

"Aye, I'll take you there. It'll be dangerous goings. Best be prepared." Johan nodded. "We'll leave when you're ready."

Astrid had little to pack. It was mostly provisions of food and water. She held a metal pendent that Hiccup had made for her. It was a simple and smooth metal droplet on a thin leather rope. While she had been grateful for the gift she didn't like wearing it. It felt like an extra weight around her neck. She tied it around her neck and dropped the pendent down her shirt. It set against her chest, cold on her skin, but reminded her of Hiccup. She could see him on the day he'd given it to her, nervous but excited, with the pendent enclosed in his fist.

What was she going to do? She couldn't stay awake, Hiccup was gone, she was…she didn't want to think about it. The world was crawling with darkness and ghosts. She didn't much care if she died on this venture.

With her few things packed she through the satchel over her shoulder. The small child that hid under her bed was peering out at her. For the first time she saw something she hadn't bothered to look for. Fear.

"Don't worry, soon you'll be where you should be." Astrid told the fearful child. It sulked further underneath her bed, wide dark eyes pinned on her, hands twitching on the floor. "Soon, everything will be better."

Because up was the only way to go.

X


	9. Chapter 9: No Take-Backs

Whoo!

Chapter 9: No Take-Backs

"AHH! AHAHAHA!" Dagur empties his lungs on his sporadic laughter. He bounced from the deck of his private ship and into the cabin. He could hardly stand. His limbs felt like cooked noodles, he swung them around, howled at the ceiling, and crashed onto the floor with heaving breaths.

He was high with joy and did not give notice to the stilled man sitting at the desk. His cold eyes were watching Dagur's childish display with wicked dislike, a malicious mask twisted the large man's otherwise pleasant features.

"I did it! I finally got rid of Hiccup!" Dagur squealed wide-eyed to the ceiling. He bounced back into a neutral tone as he jumped into a sitting position. "Of course, the body _would _have been nice, a severed head to take back home, but I'll take it. At least I can still hunt down that blasted dragon."

The man in the corner harrumphed.

"What?" Dagur shrugged. "What's gotten you so…_gloomy_? Now is a time for celebration!"

"You have crossed the bounds I set forth."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dagur narrowed his eyes. "Are you spouting nonsense? I hate when people spout nonsense…"

"The price of my assistance was that you would leave the two of them alone. Hiccup and Astrid were mine."

"So? The girl is probably still alive." Dagur waved his hand over his shoulder. He didn't have time for this. This madman was brining him down.

"You have broken our deal, Dagur the Deranged."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it now? It's not like I _planned _on him being blown up." he spat.

Dagur was not intimidated easily. So when the man stood from the desk, two heads taller and three wider, Dagur did not give in. He spread his shoulders and inhaled into his chest. He narrowed his eyes and waited for the big man to make his move. No one would tell Dagur the Deranged what to do. He listened to no one.

Not even the shady otherworldly types.

"You aren't as clever as you think."

"Oh?" Dagur reached for his trusted knife.

"I knew you planned to double cross me, you foolish boy."

Dagur raised the knife as the big man, who had refused to give his name, and took slow careful steps toward him.

X

The water was cold.

It had all happened so fast. He hadn't time to think before he acted. The fire had come, and he'd had seconds, literally. He had patted Toothless, and told him to go. But he hadn't listened. Stubbornly loyal dragon.

Hiccup had jumped into the water just as the ship was blown to pieces. His sleeve had caught fire but hadn't the time to singe his skin before the cold water rushed over him. He'd swam to the nearest ship that wasn't on fire. He'd climbed onto its deck. He had intended to call for help as soon as drowning wasn't a threat.

But as he fell onto the deck his plan changed. He watched the dragons retreat, Toothless crying in protest, the Berserkers shouting with what he assumed was Dagur's own war howl. He scanned the burning debris that he'd escaped and it hit him.

_They thought he was dead. _

Hiccup turned on heel, prepared to fend off the armored Berserkers, but they were motionless. He was right in their midst but they made no move toward him. The war howl they seemed to mimic came from nowhere, but everywhere, emanating from the ocean. Hiccup sat still, waiting for them to do something, but they remained still. He stood, slowly, and walked around to stand in front of one of the armored men.

They didn't move.

Hiccup scanned a nearby ship's deck. The armored Berserkers there were the same. Still as statues. Further down the blockade, just behind the others, he saw a ship more ornate than the others. _That _is where Dagur would be.

Hiccup walked through the still soldiers and climbed onto the side of the ship. He grabbed a rope and swung to the neighboring ship. He landed with a wet thud but none of the suits of armor moved. He copied his motions onto the next ship, and the next, until he was beside the ornate ship. Its wood was richer and its fixtures more decorative that practical.

Someone was laughing. Dagur.

Hiccup swung onto its deck and landed without worrying about disturbing the still crew. The captain's quarters were just ahead, where he'd hear Dagur laughing, but before that he needed to know something. Hiccup took careful steps to the nearest Berserker and reached out, hesitant, and lifted the armored mask.

He expected to see eyes but instead he was staring into the back of the helmet. The suit was empty. Hiccup stumbled backward. He went to the next Berserker and it was the same. They were all the same. They were empty suits of armor. Hiccup was in a panic. They'd been fighting nothing?

"What?" Hiccup ran his hands through his hair in frustration and confusion.

"I know, it was really ingenious. I'm surprised I never thought of it before. I supposed that punk wasn't as ignorant as I thought. It was his idea but I made it better."  
Hiccup spun and found himself looking at Dagur the Deranged. But…something was off. He stood too still, too calm, too reserved. Even his voice…it wasn't his.

"Dagur?" Hiccup asked.

"These lifeless chunks of metal are just shells. Those Berserkers barely knew which end of the sword to hold. But these beauties, they're practically indestructible."

"What are they?" Hiccup asked. He took a step back. Something was _very _wrong here. He didn't want to be any closer to Dagur.

"When called, angry spirits from the sea will come forth and become an unstoppable force. They are already dead, so they can't be hurt. They will fight, and fight, and fight, until there is nothing left to fight."

Dagur's usual twisted grin was gone. His face was blank. His dark eyes were wide and alert, clever and mean. The smooth voice that came from his mouth made the hair on his neck stand up. Dagur took a step toward him and Hiccup took two backward. Without Toothless he was unarmed. He might be able to wrench one of the swords from the suits of armor but he wasn't sure if he could even lift it, let alone swing it.

"Was _this _your secret weapon?" Hiccup asked. He could keep him talking. He could figure out what to do. "How…how did you pull this off? Why attack now? What do you think you'll accomplish?"

A crooked grin slowly stretched across his face. His head was held high and his posture was proud and superior. It had been a while, but Hiccup remembered Dagur as leering, sneering, and always ready to rip out the nearest throat.

"Dagur the Deranged, as he called himself, was the perfect vessel."

"Vessel for what?"

"Revenge. He was so consumed by his own thirst for revenge that he would give anything to achieve it. Even his own soul."

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup felt his chest tighten. The way Dagur was looking at him sent a chill down his spine, not unlike when the dead had climbed onto this ship, spilling onto the deck. It was the same when he'd looked into the empty armor.

"He was so driven by his own revenge, another could easily leave the dirty work to him, and when the time was right, could push him out of the way."

"What? …Dagur?"

He laughed. "_Dagur_? Don't you recognize me? You throw me into hell's blackest pit and you don't even bother to remember the sound of my voice?"

Hiccup felt the worst dropping sensation in his stomach. Was there still a ship underneath his feet? It couldn't be _him_.

"…Richard?"

"That'd'a boy, Hiccup." Dagur's face was twisted into a dark smile.

"What…what did you do to Dagur?" Hiccup shook his head. It wasn't like he liked Dagur, but it seemed like a horrible way to go. And between Dagur and Richard, he'd take Dagur.

"Oh, I am glad you asked." Richard inhaled with his nose in the air. He threw his arms out and gestured to his body, Dagur's body. "This is a little trick I picked up some time ago. Living forever works for a spirit, but a body gets old, it dies and decays. So I've had to jump around quite a bit."

"What? Did you kill him?"

"Hm? No, he's very much alive. It's more of…borrowing. I'll find another when I'm done with this one." Richard shrugged like he was talking about the weather. "I was quite fond of my previous one but it was destroyed, no thanks to you."

Hiccup felt his panic return. Faced with this new problem, he would kill Dagur if he had to. He didn't _want _to, but that wasn't the point. If Richard didn't have a body to go to then he would die, wouldn't he?

Richard lunged forward suddenly, with Dagur's agility and strength, and Hiccup threw himself to the side to avoid a deadly strike with a too-shiny knife. After missing, Richard threw the knife into the water below. It made a small _plop _and for some reason Hiccup felt worse.

"Don't you want to talk it out?" Hiccup said. He wouldn't win this fight.

"No." Richard shook his head. "We talked. You ruined everything."

He lunged forward and Hiccup bounced off of a suit of armor in his attempt to dodge. He rolled and pushed himself up. He could feel a bruise starting on his side where something had jabbed him.

"And now, I've got the upper hand." Richard gave no motion but with his words the suits on the deck began to creak and moan, their joints rusty at first but soon fluid beyond that of a natural man.

They all came at him at once. Hiccup tried to get away, to jump in the water, or something, but they were too many. Hands reached for him and latched onto his limbs with iron grips. They forced him into the center of their masses. Try as he may to escape, he couldn't wrench himself free. One of the suits balled his metal fingers into a fist and plunged it into his stomach.

Hiccup coughed as the air flood out of him. A stinging pain seared through his chest. Each breath after ignited it anew. The suits pinned him to the deck. Richard hadn't lifted a finger.

"Now what?" Hiccup spat through the pain. Maybe he could get him to talking, to ranting, distract him.

"Now nothing." Richard said. "You'll die, she'll die, and I'll sleep sound."

X

I know, I know…but GROAN - I love a cliffhanger. They're like…the cocaine of writing. You read one, you want more. You write one, you want to write more.

Anyway…thanks for the reviews and positive feedback! Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10: Glad to See You

This is one of those chapters that I was really looking forward to writing. Enjoy!

X

Chapter 10: Glad to See You

All of her things didn't fill the small makeshift room that Johan had constructed for her. It was just a corner of the lower deck he'd partitioned off with walls of wooden boxes. He had given it a small luxury by draping exotic fabrics and colorful rugs. A few roughly sewn pillows and furs made it feel more like Berk.

"It's not much but it'll have to do." Johan shrugged. "I don't usual have visitors, let alone women."

"It's fine. Thank you, Johan." Astrid nodded. He hadn't stopped fiddling with his fingers since she stepped over his gangplank.

"Alright." Johan nodded. "We'll be shoving off soon. Best make yourself at home."

Johan climbed the narrow stairs to the upper deck. Astrid heaved a sigh and scanned this temporary home. She clutched at her stomach. She had a horrible feeling that she wouldn't see Berk for a long time, maybe ever. Without realizing it she fisted her hands in her shirt. A tight knot punctured her attempts at even breaths.

"Astrid?" Stoick's call echoed down the stairs.

"I'm coming." Astrid swallowed and let her hands fall to her sides. In a matter of a few steps she was at the foot of the stairs. Stoick was standing at the top, his face looking anything but overjoyed, his large figure taking up the entire space. His brows were furrowed, much like Hiccup's, and his inhaled to speak but closed his mouth.

And like Hiccup, he knew what he wanted to say but the words wouldn't come.

"Don't worry about me, Stoick." Astrid feigned assurance.

Maybe, like his son, Stoick needed someone to squish his uneasiness with solid words. His face twitched out of his worry but he couldn't come out of it completely. He inhaled and his brows fell to their natural resting place. He shuffled his feet and brought his hands together.

Astrid had to bite back a smile. Sometimes, she could see Hiccup's quirky movements in his father. Every once in a while Stoick would let his chiefly countenance fade and his son's infamous doubt and shrugged shoulders would come through.

"You know… I already consider you my daughter, Astrid. I don't want to think I'm letting you go freely to your…demise." Stoick said, fiddling.

Astrid sighed. He didn't want to say it. _Death_.

"Then don't think of it that way." Astrid said. "I'm going to fix a problem and then I'll come back. Safe and sound. I promise."

"You can't promise that."

"I promise I'll do my best to."

"Aye, lass." Stoick nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

Johan called to the docks in his learned sailor's broadcast. Stoick gave her one last look before he retreated to the docks of Berk. Astrid swallowed, forcing down those unhappy feelings that had reemerged, and joined Johan on the upper deck. Berk was slowly drifting away.

Stoick stood proud on the docks, a mountain of strength in front of his village, many of which did not reflect his assurance. Gobber waved with his bludgeoning hand and wiped his face with the other. Among them was Ingrid, arms crossed and face fallen, and Astrid felt her chest tighten.

_She was doing the right thing_. She told herself. _This was best for everyone_.

Astrid had told Ingrid with a heavy heart about her plan. She'd stood in the kitchen, ladling a healthy serving of stew into a bowl, and took several long moments before speaking.

"Well, eat up while you're still here." Ingrid advised. "Odin knows that sailor food is about as good for you as seawater."

"I'm sorry." Astrid said. She could see the hurt, the discomfort on her aunt's face.

"I feel like I just got you back. And now you're leaving me again." Ingrid had said with her back turned.

Before Astrid had left her house for Johan's boat Ingrid had held her hand, touched her cheek, and sucked back her tears.

"You look just like your mother." Ingrid had said. "As beautiful as your are stubborn and crazy."

Astrid had smiled but it didn't push back the fist in her chest. Ingrid pulled her into a hug and left a kiss on her temple.

"You come back, girl. I've already mourned you once and that's all you get." Ingrid had tried to smile but it came out as a pitiful grimace.

"Yes, Ma'am."

And just like that the Vikings were dots on the shrinking isle and the imposing Berserker armada blocked their safe passage. Astrid looked to Johan and then to the ships.

"Alright, no sudden movements, and gifts, and we'll be fine. Just fine." Johan muttered to himself. He turned to her and his face twitched downward. "Maybe it'll be better if you hide down below. Just to be safe."

Astrid sighed. She hatred being treated like an…invalid. A useless invalid at that. But she marched back down the stairs and into her little cubbyhole. Compared to the rest of the lower desk her corner held what she could consider a homey touch.

She listened. She could hear the water sloshing on the sides of the ship. It was added it, and she guessed they were coming up on the barricade. Johan was rummaging through something, she heard rattling and clanking, and something falling to the deck with a thump.

"I mean you no harm, my fellows!" Johan shouted.

They must be close.

"I bare only gifts!" Johan lifted something that jingled into that air. "Will you kindly let me pass?"

An uncomfortable silence followed. Astrid slowly crawled out of her corner and tiptoed to the stairs. She climbed halfway up so she could see a small bit of a Berserker ships. It was so quiet. She could hear the wind thudding sails and ropes.

"Hello?" Johan called. "Is…is anyone aboard?"

Something was off. She could _feel _it. She ignored Johan's previous instructions to hide and climbed to the upper deck. Johan was holding a decorative mace above his head but the Berserker ships weren't moving. They were anchored and still. There were no voices on the air, no hum of humanity, no gentle din of life.

Astrid climbed onto a pile of trade to get a better look. She peered over onto the nearby Berserker ship and quickly retreated. She had seen the gray armor of at least a dozen Berserkers. When no sound of attack ensued she peered back over. Berserkers littered the deck, stiff as trees, as if they'd stung by Speed Stingers. Astrid squinted to the other ships. They were the same.

"What is wrong with them?" Astrid asked.

"What do you see?" Johan asked.

"They're just…standing there." Astrid told him. "Go through them."

"I can't…what if…oh…" Johan hesitated but listened. His ship slowly began to squeeze between two sleeping ships.

"They're not moving." Astrid watched the stiff Berserkers. She shuttered. The air felt…cold.

The Berserker ships remained still as Johan's passed slowly between them. And she would be glad to be free of them. There was a terrible feeling about them. Johan took a deep breath when the bow passed into the open ocean. They were within feet of leaving the barricade a voice broke the heavy silence.

"You're leaving without saying hello?"

Johan jumped and dropped the decorative mace. It clanged onto the deck and rolled, knocking into the mast. Astrid spun around to find the voice's owner as a surge of panic and joy swallowed her completely.

"Hiccup!"

He was standing on the Berserker ship and with some difficultly he climbed over the railing and jumped down onto Johan's deck. He stumbled, clutching his chest, and fell onto his knees with a painful grunt.

"Hiccup?" Astrid was at his side in seconds. She fell to her knees in front of him, almost in disbelief.

"Hey," Hiccup gasped through gritted teeth.

"Hiccup," Astrid loved the sound of his name on the air. "Hiccup, what happened? Everyone thinks you're dead!"

"Yeah, yeah," Hiccup nodded. He slowly sat back on his heels and kept his hand on his side. "I didn't plan on it but I rolled with it."

"Oh, Hiccup." Astrid felt hot tears welling in her eyes.

She reached out to him and offered him both of her hands. He took them and she helped him stand. Once settled on his feet he straightened his shoulders and shuffled his feet. She gave him a few moments to regain himself before her joy couldn't be contained any longer. She threw herself at him and fastened her arms around his neck.

He let out a painful gasp and stumbled backward but managed to maintain his footing. He placed his hands gingerly on her sides before sliding them around her. He gingerly pulled her arms off of his neck.

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you," Hiccup said carefully, "But your love hurts right now."

"I'm sorry." Astrid said through tears. "It's just…I didn't think I'd see you again."

Hiccup reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand. He rubbed his rough thumb along her cheekbone. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled away and wiped a tear away with his hand.

"I'm glad to see you, too." Hiccup said.

"Come on, you need to rest." Astrid said.

She led him by the hand to the lower deck. She ushered him into her cubbyhole and helped him onto his back. The ocean prevented complete stillness but at least he could down. She fluffed a pillow for his head and reached for the hem of his shirt.

"What're you doing?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm inspecting the damage." Astrid said. Hadn't that been obvious?

He nodded and Astrid returned to his shirt. She lifted it and pulled it back to see his bruised stomach. Her cold fingers trailed along his darkened skin and poked and prodded as gently as she could.

"Are you coughing up anything? More specifically, blood?"

"No."

"That's good." Astrid said. Gooseflesh was starting to appear across his bare skin. She pulled his shirt down. "It looks like a broken rib. You're not in immediate danger but you'll have to be careful while the bones heal. So no more jumping from ship to ship, alright?"

"Yes, Mom." Hiccup smiled.

Astrid opened her mouth but whatever she'd been about to say escaped her. She closed her mouth and laughed.

"What?"

"I'm just really glad to see you."

Hiccup reached up with his hand to run his fingers down her spine. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I thought I would this morning." Astrid said. She sighed. She thought that she'd never see those green eyes again. "It's been several hours since I've slept. I've been too…distressed, I guess."

"And now? You look tired."

Astrid nodded. She'd been pushing it back. "In a bit. Are your thirty? You sound dry."

"No, I'm fine. Come on, sleep. I'm not going anywhere." Hiccup pushed his hand against her back, urging her down to the rug covered floor with him.

She felt it pulling her into the darkness, the yearning to close her eyes, and she didn't feel like fighting it. She didn't have to. She no longer had to fear meeting Hiccup there. She curled onto the floor next to him, keeping careful not to nudge his side, and welcomed his arm around her.

X

This chapter ended nicely - especially after several cliffhangers in a row. Hmm? Thanks for reading, I appreciate all you guys and your reviews a lot!


	11. Chapter 11: The Journey

For some reason this chapter fought back like a rabid bear. It's one of those filler chapters that doesn't have a lot of action but without it the story would have a gap. I admit, those aren't my strong point. But, oh well - onward!

X

Chapter 11: The Journey

Astrid's eyes fluttered open as voices drifted.

"No, no, I'll go too."

"Are you sure? It wouldn't take but an hour's time to return to Berk."

"I'm sure. She could use my help."

"As you wish, Master Hiccup."

Hiccup? Astrid pushed herself into a sitting position. Warmth flooded through her veins. Hiccup was alive. She should send word back to Berk but she wasn't sure how. Terror mail seemed the most practical but the odds of running into a pack of those on open water were low.

Her limbs were tired and still felt asleep as she pushed herself to the stairs. The wind had picked up. The ship was moving briskly. The water sloshed against it. It was irritatingly difficult but she made it to the top of the stairs. The sails were taught and concave with the constant wind.

Hiccup was standing near the now with his eyes locked on the horizon. The wind blew his hair every which way and in the sunlight he looked amazing. His shoulders were straight and his head was high. It struck her as the way a chief would stand. Proud and sure, ready to carry the weight of world.

"Good morning," Hiccup said as he saw her. He smiled and met her halfway. He reached for her elbows and kissed her temple.

"Hm." Astrid smiled. "How long has it been?"

"Not much more than an hour." Hiccup said. There was a shift in his voice, deeper, with a smooth rustic quality. Astrid place a hand on his chest. It must from the constant pain he felt.

"Are you feeling better?" Astrid asked. She could feel his hearting beating under her palm.

"Yeah, but it still hurts." Hiccup nodded. He kept his shoulders and chest still when he moved. He held his shoulders out, and she wouldn't admit it to him, but it made him look a little broader.

"So you're coming with me?" Astrid asked.

"Yes. You could use all the help you can get." Hiccup nodded. He reached up and placed his hand over hers. "We can fix this together, you and me, go to this island and stop this madness from spreading."

She wanted to tell him that he needed to go back to Berk. But she couldn't form the words. It would be dangerous, she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to push him away. She wanted to pull him close and never let him go.

"Okay. But we should try and get word back to your dad. He still thinks you're dead. He'll be overjoyed." Astrid said.

Hiccup nodded. "Right."

"We'll have to keep an eye out for Terrors. Wild ones might not come to us but we'll have to give it a shot." Astrid said, wandering over the deck.

Astrid felt Hiccup's hand brush against her back. She turned around to face him. He was looking at her with a look that melted her. How could she have lived without him? The back of his fingers gently brushed along her cheek. She closed her eyes to savoring his touch.

"Astrid? Are you tired?"

For the moment he sounded like someone else. She opened her eyes to stare into his and those feelings were pushed aside. Who else could it have been? It was Hiccup. He was right here, alive and mostly well, refusing to let her go into danger alone.

"Unfortunately, a little." Astrid sighed. Was this how their journey would go? Hiccup healing a rib and her sleeping?

Hiccup ushered her to the stairs. He kept his body as still as he could as he walked. Before she descended the stairs Hiccup lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her. The pull of sleep was growing stronger and stronger. Hiccup gripped her arms to keep her steady.

She climbed down the stairs, one at a time, and stumbled back into her corner. She collapsed onto the furs and rug and the last sound she heard was Hiccup's uneven footsteps on the deck above.

The spirit world remained a constant blur. The temple, houses, memories all blended together in a fury of darkness. Spirits were in a stupor. They wailed and cried and moaned but none seemed any more threatening than a flopping fish. The ground shifted and changed and no one placed stayed much longer than a few minutes. Or it could have been hours. It was hard to tell.

Astrid fought to wake up. Thunder shook the seas and lightning flashed and lit the lower deck in a harsh otherworldly light. Her body was stiff and she her muscles groaned as she stretched. The bed beside her was warm. Hiccup was sleeping next to her. His arm lay above her head and his chest rose and fell with even breaths.

The sea was turbulent but despite that she closed her eyes to return to sleep. A scruff finger ran along cheek and she reopened them to see Hiccup's arm reaching across his body to hers. In the bright lightning illumination his green eyes were darker. His skin was shallow and pale. He looked sick, but she was sure he wasn't sleeping well with all the motion. She'd never had a broken rib and didn't know how it hurt.

Yes, that was the reason.

It was in Hiccup's arms that she woke in the morning. The night's storm had passed and left the seas calm. Hiccup ruffled. He brought a hand to her and stroked her abdomen with his hand. His hair was a mess but she was sure that hers was too.

"Good morning," Astrid whispered. Her voice was dry from sleep, raspy from misuse. Hiccup reflected her smile and leaned in to kiss her.

They met Johan on the upper deck. There was nothing but smooth sea in every direction. The breeze was strong enough to push them along, like it knew where they needed to go.

"It's weird to be so close to the water." Astrid said as she leaned over the railing. She stuck her hand over the water. It was like she could just reach out and touch it.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked from her side.

"I'm so used to riding Stormfly." Astrid said, smiling at him. "From way up there boats are so small and slow. It's just…different, taking the old fashioned way."

"Right." Hiccup nodded. He stepped closer. "You alright?"

"Hm?" Astrid turned to him. He was looking at her with concern. He placed a hand on her cheek and at once she felt the pulling of darkness. It came so fast that she didn't have the time to respond. The world went black.

Astrid woke as suddenly as she'd crashed into the spirit world. It had gone by in such a rush of fog, screams, and pale faces. It was more like a nightmare, like she was watching from another body, surreal and blurred. She rubbed her face and inhaled deeply. She felt heavy and limp. She needed to move.

She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto her hands and needs. Slowly, feeling was coming back. By the time she was at the top of the stairs her limbs were returning to normal. She climbed the stairs and the sun-warmed sea air was refreshing. She stretched her arms to the sky. Everything hurt and ached.

Johan and Hiccup were talking. At the sight of her their conversation at ended. Astrid meandered over to them and leaned against a barrel of trade.

"You still haven't told me how you faked your death." Astrid nudged his shoulder. His rib must be doing much better. He didn't even flinch.

Hiccup smiled proudly and leaned beside her. She waited for his story and even Johan listened in.

"Well, when the fight started, me and…my dad, were talking to Dagur. I flew away and in a freak accident I landed on a ship and didn't have time to get back into the air when it was blown apart. I swam to the closest ship." Hiccup retold, with a little more flare than his stories generally contained. "I rolled with the situation and used my fake death to sneak onto the Berserker ships to find out what was happening."

"Did you find anything?" Astrid asked. "When we went through, it as like the soldiers were frozen in place. It…it was weird."

"That's the crazy part." Hiccup said. "It was…it was some kind of orb thing that Dagur had. I don't know where he got it. He said it called the souls from the other side to inhabit the armor. He went on and on about how the veil was thinned enough."

"Where could Dagur have gotten such a thing?" Johan shuttered.

"I don't know." Hiccup shrugged. "But once the rift is closed all this traffic will stop. Everything will be back to normal."

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. Everything would be back to normal. She felt Hiccup's hand on her shoulder and without meaning to she laid her head into her hands. She briefly saw Hiccup's other hand reach around to stop her from falling onto the deck.

Astrid woke up in her corner with a fur up to her chin. Hiccup's arm was draped around her waist. He was laying on his side and held her close. Her breath splattered the back of her neck.

How long had they been on Johan's ship? Her stomach growled. How long had it been since she'd eaten? Time was moving so sporadically that she couldn't keep track. She had moved so suddenly between world that she had no idea. The fur held their heat between them and she could feel his heartbeat against her back. It was more than enough to lull her back to sleep.

The spirit world was much less inviting. Through the blurs and fog a woman's face kept reappearing. Every time she was screaming, her pale hands reaching out, her eyes bulging at her. She never came closer than a stone's throw. She was trying to crawl through the fog but it pushed her away.

Astrid woke, nestled into Hiccup's side. When she stirred so did he. His hand brushed her hairline and pushed hair out of her face.

"How long has it been?"

"Johan says we'll be there in about a day." Hiccup whispered. He trailed his finger down her face, her neck, her shoulder, and settled it on her waist.

"Hiccup, when the veil is close, all the souls on this side will be trapped here." Astrid said. How she knew, she didn't know, it might have been the woman from the spirit world.

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen to them? Are we going to search them out and return them home?"

"Maybe. But, what if they want to stay here?"

"I don't know."

"Don't worry about it, Astrid. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Together, okay? After we close it."

"Yeah."

It was like this that the journey passed. Astrid passed between the living world and the spirit world with little or no warning. The hours blended together into blurs of darkness, water, a pale woman's screams, and the exotic fabric. The constant go-between was leaving her exhausted and delirious, but Hiccup was there eager to give her the comfort she needed. His chest was a warm sanctuary and his beating heart a soothing sound.

X

Thanks for the reviews, team! I really appreciate it - it means a lot to me that you enjoy this story. I've been trying to break into publish and I'm fallen into a kind of rejection-funk.

Also - secret side note - There's a little hidden scene in this chapter that I'm planning on adding later, to my M rated dabble collection, for obvious reasons (wink wink).


	12. Chapter 12: It's You

Thanks for the reviews guys, it means a lot to read them, and I'm always excited to see more!

A note - I wrote this chapter using "dingy" instead of "dinghy" (because apparently my works program doesn't believe that it's a word) and then I used the "replace" tool to replace each "dingy" with "dinghy". Sooo if "dingy" is used improperly, I apologize.

x

Chapter 12: It's You

"Astrid."

His voice was far away. It was muffled by the fog and clouded by the darkness. Stirring, Astrid couldn't tell where she saw. Around her the spirit world was too dark, too hazy, and felt boxed in. It reminded her of when she was young and would hide underneath the bed.

"Astrid?"

Was someone talking? Who was that? Was there someone else here?

"Astrid, come on, wake up."

A hand shook her shoulder and brought her back to the real world. The humid hull of Johan's ship came into view. The exotic fabrics and rugs were shaded and their colored hues were darkened. Was it night?

"Hey, good morning." Hiccup's face was hovering over hers, a hand rested on her shoulder, and the other gently grazed her cheek. He left a short kiss on her forehead.

"Hmm," Astrid stretched the stiffness out. Her limbs were cold, even under the blanket, and her exhale came out in a white puff.

"We're here." Hiccup said. "Or so Johan says, it's as far as he'll go. We ran into some fog and he's been fretting since."

She sat up and what little warmth she'd kept underneath the blanket dispersed. Hiccup had a fur draped over his shoulders and thick wraps on his arms. He draped a similar fur around her shoulders and helped her stand.

"Why is it so cold?" Astrid asked, accepting thick arm wraps. The fur helped but not much.

"It must be the fog. It's not…normal fog. It's like ice." Hiccup said.

Astrid took the lead and jogged up the stairs to the upper deck. When Hiccup had said 'fog' she'd pictured the light wispy fog that sometimes hovered over Berk's rivers. This fog was thick, in a way like the clouds that she would sometimes fly through, but darker. It climbed upwards and blocked out the sunlight, casting the illusion of nighttime, with the thick slow swirls the color of dust. It settled on her skin as tiny ice crystals.

"I can't stay in this fog much longer. It's effecting the sail." Johan said, nervously fingering the edge of the sail, sliding his thumb along the slickening material. "I can offer you a dinghy to get close to the island."

"Thank you, Johan." Astrid nodded. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"It's been an honor." Johan said with a mouthful of uncertainty. He shuttered, "I can't believe you're going in there. I'd sooner let the ocean swallow the island."

"There are innocent people on that island." Astrid said. But she swallowed those words. "Or, there was, I don't know what we're about to find. Johan, you've been there before. Any words of advice?"

Johan looked out into the fog and brought his eyes to Astrid with a sigh. "The first time I came to this island, to offer my services as a trader, their welcome was less than friendly. They wanted to know how I found it and where I'd come from and if there were any more like me that were capable of following me. When I finally assured them that I was alone they were still cautious. They wouldn't let me off my ship and frowned each time I looked up into the village from the docks. They agreed to trade but I think they only did it so I wouldn't have a reason to betray their secrecy. They are strange about keeping their island a secret. They never would tell me why. And I suppose if they're the cause of all this … disruption then they had a very good reason to be."

Hiccup and Astrid climbed down onto the dinghy. Astrid expected a long-winded journey to the island. Hiccup couldn't sit still in a boat. He never could. So when he sat down and leisurely went limp against the bow with a sigh she eyed him.

"Hiccup?"

"What?" He cocked an eyebrow, tossing up is hands in question. He sat with his shoulders relaxed and still, his mouth just above a frown, one side turned slightly upward.

"Nothing." Astrid sat down as the dinghy was dispatched. It began to float freely and drifted away from Johan's ship. Hiccup was looking at her, no, he was looking _through _her. There was something unfriendly about the way he saw her. She turned her gaze from his and looking into the fog. She didn't want to think about it.

"It's going to take a while to get there." Hiccup sighed. Was that boredom she sensed? Irritation?

There wasn't hardly any movement in the water. They had drifted by force of momentum and Johan's ship was still within arm's reach.

"Yeah…" Astrid said as the thoughts flooded in. She leaned over to stare into the still water's depths. The dinghy rocked but Hiccup didn't seem bothered. If Dagur could do it…then couldn't she?

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked, dryness in his tone.

"I'm trying…" Astrid answer absently. She relaxed and searched the water for spirits. Yes, they were there. But would they listen?

_Can you hear me? If you can, please, we need your help. _

Astrid tried her best to convey their plea, the importance of the need, the significance of this trip. She could hear Hiccup moving in the boat and feel him inching over the side to see what she was trying to see. He didn't flinch when the water stirred. Faces appeared just beneath the surface, paled and skeletal, flesh missing on some and patched on others, hair webbed in the rustling water. There were just a few at first but they were soon joined all around the dinghy, dozens, and then a dozen more.

Skeletal hands broke the glassy surface and reached for the dinghy's side. With a gentle push the boat began to glide across the water. Johan's boat drifted away and the fog consumed them completely.

"How did - _what_ did you do?" Hiccup gapped at her.

Astrid was impressed with it herself and expected the same reaction from him but his face conveyed neither joy or appreciation. His brows were pushed together and his

mouth was titled sideways, open just enough to expose his mild buck teeth, his eyes

searching her face with something of disbelief, horror, and disgruntled admiration.

"What do you mean?" Astrid sat back on her heels, involuntarily tensing. The dead must have felt it too; there was a subtle shift in their glide.

Hiccup sighed and his face relaxed.

"I asked them for help." Astrid answered his previous question, tentatively.

"And they listened to you." Hiccup said, looking over and into the water where the dead worked as a sort of wheel, constantly pushing the boat along.

"Yeah, Hiccup, I've asked them before." Astrid said, picking her words carefully. What was this that she felt? Uneasiness? Apprehension?

"Right," Hiccup said quickly. "It's still just kind of…weird to see in action. You know?"

"I guess." Astrid nodded. She sat at the opposite end of the dinghy.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked abruptly.

"Hmm?" Astrid shook her head but with the motion she felt the drift immediately, the pulling of her soul away from this world and into the next. It had happened so suddenly, like a fist thrusting into her chest, that she wondered if this was what it was like to die. But before that thought was met by another she was gone.

X

The spirit world was drenched in thick darkness. It held her down and stole her breath. She fought against it but could not gain ground. She tried to reached for her body, to Hiccup, to listen for his voice, but she was held fast. The spirit world was closed off by walls of cold clouds.

X

Astrid snapped back into herself with a hard pulse. She had felt it in her bones, her muscles, down to her toes. It had pushed out a yelp out of her but before she had time to assess it, arms closed around her. She was lying into Hiccup's chest and his arms enclosed around her shoulder and waist.

"Alright, there?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid nodded, feeling the rough material of his shirt against her cheek, the warmth of his chest underneath was slight despite the cold. He raised his hand from her shoulder and cupped her cheek, sliding his finger along her cheekbone, this thumb along the smooth skin underneath her eye.

He's been so _touchy _lately. While Astrid wasn't about to complain, she enjoyed this rarer side of Hiccup, but it struck her as odd. Among other things.

It wad hard to stretch out in the dinghy and there were several muscles that she'd like to rip out of her body. She'd love to take a long run around Berk, exhaust herself to the extreme, and collapse into a hot bath and sleep without a horrid dream.

"That must be it." Hiccup said.

Astrid pulled herself from him to stare into the fog. There was something in the fog. She could see a darkened blurred shape. As their dinghy glided along that shape loomed closer. She could feel an intense gloom surging from it, like a thousand miserable spirits, their suffering and pain ringing out into the fog, becoming the fog itself.

"Hiccup, you could still go back." Astrid said.

"What? No." Hiccup shook his head.

"I'm serious, I have no idea what I'm walking into. It could be horrible, odds are that it will be, full of mad and confused spirits. I should go alone." Astrid didn't want to beg him to go back. She _wanted _him with her but she didn't at the same time.

"No." Hiccup said with a glimpse of that determination that she admired so much. "Astrid, we're a team. We're sticking together. Forever."

_Forever_. Why did that word leave her with such a shivering sensation?

The fog was nothing like sailing into the island's docks. Their dinghy thudded against it and Hiccup tied it off with deft hands. Astrid climbed onto the creaky docks but it was like walking into a nightmare. The fog continued onto the island and the buildings were lumps of dark cloudy coal.

Astrid took careful steps toward the village. It was eerily silent. No birds, no bugs, no life, and it made her heartbeat into thunder. The streets were deserted. Each footstep rapped on the graveled ground. Hiccup's uneven footsteps followed closely behind.

"There's no one here." Astrid whispered.

They looked into homes and buildings that they passed. They were all empty. Their possessions were scattered around, thrown haphazardly, like they had all left in a hurry with little notice. There were faint lingering spirits, but few of them, here and there, and Astrid gave them little mind.

She glanced over her shoulder at Hiccup. He looked at the houses with interest, preoccupied thoughts, and walked with a slight limp. It was like how he used to when his leg's absence was still fresh. She was thinking about his leg when a wandering spirit drifted out from a house two doors down and Astrid abruptly halted, throwing her arm out to stop Hiccup, but he had already paused his steps.

"Hm?" Hiccup eyed her.

"A spirit." Astrid said. She looked at her outstretched arm and let it fall back to her side. "I didn't want to give it a reason to see us as a threat."

Hiccup eyed her then nodded.

They continued to walk further into the village in silence. Astrid peered behind her and could no longer see the ocean. It was all clouded streets. It was cold and she was glad for the fur. If they made it back to Berk she would have to repay Johan. _If_ they made it back.

Astrid inhaled, filling her lungs to the max, and held it. What was she talking about? _Of_ _course_ they going to make it back. And Stoick would be thrilled to see his son. He would be thrilled to welcome them back and ever more thrilled with the prospect of a great Viking wedding. A wedding would lightening the entire wood of Berk.

They'd marry when they got back to Berk. That idea sounded amazing. It helped to ease the knot in her chest but not entirely. That would settle when they fixed the spirit veil.

It felt as though they'd been walking for hours. Everything looked the same. While covered in fog all the houses were identical, the streets were the same, the alleys were thick in shadows. She turned down one street, then another, and felt as though she was zigzagging back and forth around the same house.

Astrid came to a sudden halt, stomping, and throwing her arms into the air. "Where is this temple?"

"Do you think we're going in circles?" Hiccup asked. "You did say that you knew where the temple was."

"I know how to get around once I'm inside. The spirit world version of this place wasn't this big on the outside." Astrid fumed.

"We could keep walking until we find a nice spirit and ask for directions?" Hiccup asked with a cocked brow.

"Or you could turn around."

Astrid and Hiccup both spun on their heels. Her grayed dark hair waved around her dark face and swayed with each of her graceful steps. Hiccup took a step back as Astrid took one forward.

"It's you!" Astrid couldn't hide the smile that stretched across her lips. She turned to share this joyous moment of renewed hope with Hiccup. His face was blank but he returned her smile with a curt nod.

It was the same mysterious woman who had made everything possible, who have given Hiccup the chance to bring Astrid back from the dead, and to renew her life on this earth. Astrid was about to speak when the woman held up a hand.

"No, not here. Come with me." she said. "There is a haven from this malice nearby."

X


End file.
